The careers of many trial lawyers are often shaped by their experiences in handling an unusually complex or difficult case. M. Sean Royall, Co-Chair of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice Group, is one of those lawyers. While serving as the Deputy Director of the Bureau of Competition at the Federal Trade Commission (a position he held from June 2001 through October 2003), Mr. Royall was the government's lead trial lawyer in a monopolization suit against Los Altos, California-based computer chip designer Rambus Inc. The FTC's Rambus case deals with issues at the crossroads of three distinct bodies of law – namely, antitrust, deception, and intellectual property.
Mr. Royall's experiences in litigating this important case for the government inspired him to write three interesting articles, each dealing with a different aspect of the litigation.
The first article, FTC Administrative Litigation: Past, Present, and Future, 71 ANTITRUST L. J. 319 (2003), which Mr. Royall co-authored with an FTC colleague, discusses the many unique attributes of the FTC's administrative litigation process. In the second article, Standard Setting and Exclusionary Conduct: The Role of Antitrust in Policing Unilateral Abuses of a Standard-Setting Process, 18 ANTITRUST 44 (2004), Mr. Royall moves from procedure to substance and tackles the central antitrust legal issues presented by the Rambus litigation. Finally, in the third article, The Art of Destruction, THE AMERICAN LAWYER (September 2004), Mr. Royall comments upon a subsidiary issue that has taken on considerable significance in the Rambus litigation – the issue of pre-complaint document destruction.
More About Sean Royall
Mr. Royall has spent most of his legal career – both in and outside government – litigating complex antitrust matters involving a diverse range of industries, including computer software, semiconductors, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, petroleum, petrochemicals, mining, pet foods, retail food and beverages, airlines, financial services, and avionics. He has also litigated other complex commercial disputes involving contract, false advertising, business tort, intellectual property, and securities claims. In addition to his litigation experience, Mr. Royall has substantial experience representing firms before the federal antitrust enforcement agencies; advising companies on the antitrust implications of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, distribution arrangements, and intellectual property licenses; and assisting large corporations with legal compliance and records management issues.
Mr. Royall for five years served as an adjunct member of the faculty at the Washington & Lee University Law School. He is the co-author and editor of the Desk Edition of the Von Kalinowski antitrust treatise (a Matthew Bender publication), and served for three years as the Editorial Chair of the American Bar Association's Antitrust Law Journal. In addition, he has published numerous articles and frequently speaks on antitrust-related topics.
Mr. Royall obtained his law degree, with honors from the University of Chicago Law School, where he served as Managing Editor of the Law Review. He obtained a bachelors degree in economics, magna cum laude, from Texas A&M University, where he served as president of the student body. He is admitted to the bars of the State of Texas and the District of Columbia.
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Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher is a leading international law firm with more than 800 lawyers in 13 offices worldwide, including Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Palo Alto, London, Paris, Munich, Brussels, Orange County, Century City, Dallas and Denver. Gibson Dunn is the recipient of the 2003 U.S. Antitrust Law Firm of the Year Award from Chambers and Partners Global. In a profile of Gibson Dunn prepared for its Guide to America's Leading Business Lawyers, Chambers states that Gibson Dunn's antitrust team "continues to make its mark on antitrust law" and reports our clients' appreciation of the firm's "real knack for keeping bills low without sacrificing quality" and "excellent strategy" on complex cases. The firm's Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice Group numbers over eighty attorneys who regularly practice antitrust law. Our litigation practice has been recognized as one of the top five in the country by The American Lawyer and is among a broad spectrum of practice areas the firm offers to support the needs and ongoing growth of its clients.
For further information please contact
M. Sean Royall
Co-Chair, Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice
(214) 698-3256 - Dallas
(202) 955-8546 - Washington, D.C.
sroyall@gibsondunn.com
© 2004 Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP