Brian E. Robison

Brian Robison is a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Dallas office.  Mr. Robison has experience in a wide range of business litigation and antitrust matters in both state and federal courts. He also has counseled clients on the antitrust implications of proposed business transactions, and he has represented clients in antitrust investigations conducted by both state and federal authorities. In business litigation matters, Brian has represented: one of the nation’s largest professional associations, the nation’s largest shell egg producer, the nation’s largest video retailer, the nation’s largest workers’ compensation insurance carrier, and a large investment brokerage firm in large antitrust cases; one of the world’s largest companies in an international arbitration; a large wireless communications company in an injunction action; a large telecommunications company in ERISA benefits actions; and the directors and officers of insolvent companies in bankruptcy adversary proceedings.

Mr. Robison has taken both civil and criminal cases to trial, served as a prosecutor for Dallas County, and argued before state courts of appeals. He has been recognized by numerous publications for his work including Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in Antitrust law from 2009-2013.  Mr. Robison was named as one of The Best Lawyers in America® (2012-2013) for commercial litigation.  He was also named as one of the “Best Lawyers in Dallas Under the Age of 40” in D Magazine in 2002 and 2004 and was named a “Texas Rising Star” in Texas Monthly in 2004-2006, and 2008-2010.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn in 2011, Mr. Robison was a Partner at Vinson & Elkins and served as co-leader of that firm’s Antitrust Practice Specialty Group.   He previously served as a judicial clerk to The Honorable John Cornyn of the Supreme Court of Texas from 1995-1996 and served as an Assistant District Attorney for Dallas County, Texas in the “Lawyer-on-Loan” program from 1999-2000.

Mr. Robison is a member of several professional organizations, including a Member of the American Bar Association, Dallas Bar Association and Sherman Act Section 1 Committee, Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association.  He is also on the Council of the Antitrust & Business Litigation Section of the Texas Bar Association and the Council of the Antitrust & Trade Regulation Section of the Dallas Bar Association.

Mr. Robison received his law degree in 1995 with honors from The University of Texas School of Law, where he was a member of Order of the Coif and served as Notes Editor of the Texas Law Review.  He also holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Kansas, where he graduated in 1991 with highest distinction and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi.

Mr. Robison is admitted to practice in the state of Texas and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; U.S. District Court for Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas.

Representative Experience *

Antitrust and Class Action Cases

• Second-chair trial attorney for a federal antitrust jury trial against a major professional association accused of violating the Sherman Act by orchestrating a nationwide group boycott
• Member of trial team that represented the nation's largest video retailer in a major antitrust case involving accusations of conspiracy, concerted refusal to deal, and price discrimination
• Lead attorney for one of the nation's largest commercial lease finance companies in two class actions involving lessee claims for breach of contract and fraud
• Co-lead attorney for the largest shell egg producer in the nation in a series of putative class actions alleging a nationwide supply-suppression conspiracy to raise prices that allegedly is not exempt from antitrust scrutiny under the Capper-Volstead Act and other statutory exemptions covering agricultural co-operatives
• Lead attorney for one of the nation's largest insurance companies in a purported nationwide class action and in several related individual actions involving allegations of a customer allocation conspiracy in violation of the Sherman Act, various state antitrust statutes, and RICO
• Co-lead attorney for a large financial institution in a purported nationwide class action involving allegations of a bid rigging, price-fixing, and customer allocation conspiracy in the municipal derivatives market in violation of the Sherman Act
• Lead attorney for two Canadian agricultural co-operatives in a purported nationwide indirect purchaser class action alleging a North American potato industry supply-suppression conspiracy that allegedly is not exempt from antitrust scrutiny under the Capper-Volstead Act and other statutory exemptions covering agricultural co-operatives
• Co-lead attorney for a large property and casualty insurance company in several purported class actions challenging the use of an Ingenix product to process medical bills submitted by providers
• Lead attorney for a waste disposal company accused of monopolization and predatory pricing in violation of the Texas Free Enterprise and Antitrust Act
• Represented the nation's largest workers' compensation insurance carrier in a series of antitrust class actions, each of which alleged in excess of $1 billion in damages, pending in state and federal courts in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Jersey, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Missouri, Alabama, Arizona, Kentucky, California, Michigan, and New York
• Lead attorney for a large insurance company in three competing class actions in Texas state court alleging improper payments to medical providers

Case Citations

• In re Insurance Brokerage Antitrust Litig., 618 F.3d 300 (3d Cir. 2010)
• In re Insurance Brokerage Antitrust Litig., MDL No. 1663, 2006 WL 2850607 (D.N.J. Oct. 3, 2006); 2007 WL 1100449 (Apr. 5, 2007); 2007 WL 1062980 (Apr. 5, 2007); 2007 WL 2533989 (Aug. 31, 2007); 2007 WL 2892700 (Sept. 28, 2007)
• Hinds County v. Wachovia Bank N.A., 708 F. Supp. 2d 348 (S.D.N.Y. 2010); Hinds County v. Wachovia Bank N.A., 700 F. Supp. 2d 378 (S.D.N.Y. 2010); Hinds County v. Wachovia Bank N.A., 620 F. Supp. 2d 499, 513 (S.D.N.Y. 2009)
• Sandwich Chef of Texas, Inc. v. Reliance Nat’l Indem. Ins. Co., 319 F.3d 205 (5th Cir. 2003)
• Bristol Hotel Management Corp. v. Aetna Casualty & Sur. Co., 20 F. Supp.2d 1345 (S.D. Fla. 1998)
• Foodarama Supermarkets Inc. v. American Ins. Co., 2000 WL 356697 (Pa. Com. Pl. Jan. 10, 2000)
• Viazis v. American Ass’n of Orthodontists, 182 F. Supp.2d 552 (E.D. Tex. 2001), aff’d, 314 F.3d 758 (5th Cir. 2002)
• Cleveland v. Viacom Inc., 73 Fed. Appx. 736 (5th Cir. 2003)

Business Litigation

• Second-chair trial attorney in a federal bench trial involving allegations of breach of a tax consulting contract
• Lead attorney for one of the world's largest manufacturing companies in an international arbitration
• Co-lead attorney for a private investment fund in an oil and gas arbitration in which our client alleged more than $250 million in damages
• Co-lead attorney for a large wireless telecommunications company as plaintiff in a case involving breach of that company's exclusive right to operate a wireless mobility communications network within a defined territory
• Lead attorney for one of the nation's largest owners and managers of ambulatory surgical centers in a case involving allegations of breach of a merger agreement
• Obtained summary judgment for a local businessman in a breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty case and successfully defended that judgment before the Fort Worth Court of Appeals
• Lead attorney for one of the nation's largest telecommunication companies in two ERISA cases
• Lead attorney responsible for securing the successful settlement of a series of bankruptcy trustee lawsuits filed against several former officers and directors of companies in the home mortgage lending industry and the interstate trucking industry
• Represented a major Texas university in a widely-publicized federal court RICO suit brought by a former star football player

Government Investigations

• Represented a company during a civil SEC investigation into allegations of stock options backdating
• Represented one of the nation’s largest commercial insurance companies in antitrust investigations and civil suits pursued by several state attorneys general
• Represented an entity involved in the municipal finance industry in connection with simultaneous investigations by the SEC, the Antitrust Division of the DOJ, the IRS, the FBI, and a task force of several state attorneys general
• Represented a concrete production company in a civil investigation brought by the antitrust division of a state attorney general
• Represented an independent financial advisor in an SEC investigation into the use of placement agents in connection with government investment contracts
• Part of a team that represented a potential buyer of assets to be divested as a result of a merger during an antitrust investigation pursued by the Antitrust Division of the DOJ and a state attorney general

* Includes matters handled prior to joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

Publications and Presentations

• "Twombly Update: Navigating the Flurry of Decisions in 2010-11," Antitrust and Trade Regulation Section of the Dallas Bar Association, March 24, 2011
• "A Gathering Storm? Antitrust Enforcement in the Agricultural Sector," Antitrust News & Notes, August 2010 (co-author)
• "Health Insurance Companies May Lose Federal Antitrust Exemption," Antitrust News & Notes, March 2010 (co-author)
• "Geographic Market: Watch the Buyer," Antitrust News & Notes, March 2010 (co-author)
• "District Courts Consider Whether to Extend Twombly to Affirmative Defenses," Antitrust News & Notes, March 2010 (co-author)
• "Recent Developments in Resale Price Maintenance Law," Antitrust and Trade Regulation Section of the Dallas Bar Association, May 19, 2009
• "Placing Blame in the Cleveland Subprime Mortgage Crisis: Stretching a Public Nuisance Claim Too Far," An Immediate Look at the Legal, Governmental, and Economic Ramifications of the Subprime Mortgage Crisis, Aspatore Instant Awareness, April 2008
• "Resale Price Maintenance and The Rule of Reason," Competition Law 360, March 3, 2008
• "Sellers Still Should Be Cautious When Implementing Resale Price Management Programs," Vinson & Elkins Litigation News, Winter 2008
• "The Supreme Court's Leegin Decision on Resale Price Maintenance: Maintaining Uncertainty," Competition, Journal of the Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section, State Bar of California, Fall 2007
• "Litigation in the Wake of the Subprime Lending Collapse: What Has Happened and Where We Are Headed," An Immediate Look at the Legal, Governmental, and Economic Ramifications of the Subprime Mortgage Crisis, 13 No. 11 Andrew's Bank and Lender Liability Litigation Reporter 14, Aspatore Instant Awareness, October 15, 2007
• "Antitrust Litigation from the Defendant's Perspective," Inside the Minds: Antitrust Settlements and Negotiations, 2006