Key Pillars of Antitrust Lawyers Success

Three factors are critical to successful antitrust practice. First and foremost is preparation. One must devote significant time reading cases, as they are decided, and current professional journals and law reviews. As lead counsel for a party in an antitrust case, you must learn and understand the facts. Many senior lawyers do not review "raw" documents, preferring to leave the drudgery to associates and paralegals. My view is that, as lead counsel, I must , and I do, review the documents, no matter how burdensome that is.

Effective communication with your client is crucial. The client must be advised of risks without sugar-coating them. The client must be advised about changes in plans and strategies, and receive regular reports of developments. The news is not always good, but communicating bad news is part of the job.

Preserving client resources is an important aspect of my approach to antitrust litigation. In preparing a case for trial, I economize wherever I can without compromising the client's interests. I once heard the general counsel of General Motors say: Dont give me a five-dollar wedding when a two-dollar wedding will do. Antitrust cases are conducive to excessive discovery and unnecessary motion practice, much of which, in my opinion, is done to generate fees for lawyers. Some lawyers, unfortunately , abuse their clients' pocketbooks. They treat antitrust cases as gold mines and they mine them to exhaustion. Clients do not make and sell products so that they can pay lawyers.

We attorneys would not exist if we did not have clients, and our fiduciary obligation to our clients is to serve their interests. Winning cases for clients is in itself a reward. When clients understand that you are trying to serve them and not yourself, they more willingly pay your bills, and they will continue to hire you to serve them. I consider practicing law to be a privilege, and I hope to enjoy practicing antitrust law for many more years .

Keith Rounsaville is a stockholder and Chair of the Antitrust practice group of Akerman Senterfitt, the largest law firm in the state of Florida, with offices in eight cities throughout the state. Mr. Rounsaville is resident in Akerman Senterfitt's Orlando and Tampa offices.

Mr. Rounsaville received a Bachelor of Arts degree with departmental honors from Yale University in 1967, and a Juris Doctor degree cum laude from Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

For approximately thirty years, Mr. Rounsaville has concentrated his law practice in antitrust litigation and counseling . He has been lead counsel for corporate clients in federal grand jury investigations of price-fixing or bidrigging in multiple districts concerning school milk, water treatment chemicals, repackaged chlorine, metal building insulation and chain link fence. He also served as lead counsel for corporate clients in State of Florida antitrust investigations of price-fixing or bid-rigging concerning repackaged chlorine, pesticides and water treatment chemicals.

Mr. Rounsaville has served as lead trial counsel for plaintiffs and defendants in civil antitrust actions in the United States District Courts for the Middle, Northern and Southern District of Florida; Northern District of Georgia; Northern District of Alabama; Southern District of Indiana; Southern District of Texas; District of Maryland; and District of Colorado. His clients participated in many diverse industries, including pharmaceuticals , optical lenses, building products, citrus products, petroleum products, industrial chemicals, automotive products, and thoroughbred horseracing.

Mr. Rounsaville was ranked number one in antitrust practice in the 2003-2004 edition of Chambers USA America's Leading Business Lawyers. He served as Chairman of the Antitrust Committee of the Florida Bar for six years (1984-86, 1988-92) and was a member of the Executive Council of the Business Law Section of the Florida Bar for eight years (1984-92). He was elected to the American Law Institute in 1991. He is a frequent author and speaker regarding antitrust law, federal practice and procedure and federal evidence.

Mr. Rounsaville was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1971, to the District of Columbia Bar in 1972, and to The Florida Bar in 1974. He is also admitted to the Bars of the United States Supreme Court, United States Courts of Appeal for the Eleventh, Fifth and District of Columbia Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Middle, Southern and Northern Districts of Florida.