Robert M. Buchanan, Jr.

Bob Buchanan is the leader of the Antitrust practice at Choate.

Mr. Buchanan is listed in Best Lawyers in America, PLC - Which Lawyer and as a Massachusetts Super Lawyer.  Chambers USA identifies Mr. Buchanan in the top tier in Boston (i.e. the seven best lawyers in the city) for Antitrust litigation and counseling.  He has also been named in The Legal 500 for antitrust in the Northeast US.

Practice Focus

Antitrust:  fully integrated antitrust services, which include counseling companies in strategically important transactions; analyzing whether Hart-Scott-Rodino filings are required and supervising their preparation; advocating before the FTC, the US Department of Justice and various states; and litigating on behalf of commercially sophisticated companies that are plaintiffs or defendants in antitrust disputes.

Litigation:  antitrust and regulatory litigation, class action defense, commercial disputes and trade secret claims.  Clients include sophisticated companies in healthcare, life sciences, technology, energy, media, insurance and professional services.  Recent trials have involved misrepresentation (international arbitration), breach of contract (US arbitration) and damages in patent infringement (D Mass).

Representative Engagements

• Selected by two of top three health plans in Massachusetts as their joint antitrust counsel advising merger discussions.
• Selected by two competing hospitals as their joint antitrust counsel advising merger discussions.
• Filed trailblazing action that caused Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities to suspend unconstitutional limitations in state’s renewable energy statute.
• Won judgment in favor of Fortune 50 company by successful motion to dismiss complaint in antitrust class action.
• Coordinated successful nationwide defense for major technology company faced with 33 state court class actions, winning summary judgment in Connecticut, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.
• Urged to successful conclusion, in less than one month, premerger second request by US Department of Justice under Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, in critically important transaction for high technology company.

Publications and Presentations

• “Where Can a Lawyer Safely Turn for Advice About a Client?” panelist, Boston Bar Association, Boston, October 2012.
• “Six Steps You Should Take to Ward Off Costly Class Actions,” author, Corporate Counsel, July 2012.
• "The US Supreme Court’s Landmark Decision in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion: One Year Later,” author, Bloomberg’s US Law Week, May 2012.
• “Boston Competition Bar Survey,” quoted, Global Competition Review, December 2012 and October 2011.
• “Hart-Scott-Rodino Changes Mean the FTC/DOJ Will Read More Strategic Planning Documents,” author, VCExperts, August 2011.
• “2011 Hart-Scott-Rodino Requirements,” Choate Alert, January 2011.
• “Advanced Antitrust:  M&A and Year in Review,” author and speaker, Boston Bar Association, 2010.
• “Massachusetts Strikes Down Class Action Waivers,” Choate Alert, July 2009.
• “Massachusetts Class Actions: Mixed Signals from the SJC,” author, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, March 2009.
• “Commonwealth v. Fremont: Innovative Chapter 93A Litigation Applied to the Mortgage Crisis,” author, Boston Bar Journal, March 2009.

Professional and Community Involvemen

Mr. Buchanan serves as chair of the firm’s Ethics Committee.  He was the principal author of an important Opinion by the BBA Ethics Committee, which supports the BBA's pro bono initiative, announced in February 2010, to help needy individuals with bankruptcy filings.

Mr. Buchanan is a past chair of the Boston Bar Association’s Ethics, Antitrust, and Nominating Committees.

Mr. Buchanan is the co-president of the Lexington Street Neighborhood Association in his hometown of Weston, Massachusetts.  He is a member of the Hamilton College Parents Advisory Council.