Sharon K. Robertson

In re Tracleer Antitrust Litigation

Baltimore v. Actelion Pharmaceuticals LTD (D. Md.): Cohen Milstein is court-appointed Co-Lead Class Counsel, representing the End-Payor Class in this certified class action against Actelion Pharmaceuticals LTD, manufacturer of the brand prescription drug bosentan, marketed as Tracleer. Plaintiffs allege that Defendant Actelion engaged in an anticompetitive scheme to withhold samples of its life-saving pulmonary arterial hypertension medication from would-be rivals, under the guise of the REMs program, which conduct ultimately delayed generic competition.

In Re Axon VieVu Antitrust Litigation

In Re Axon VieVu Antitrust Litigation (D.N.J.): Cohen Milstein, as Co-Lead Counsel, represents the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore and other municipalities in this consolidated antitrust class action, alleging that Axon unlawfully monopolized the markets for body-worn camera systems and long-range conducted energy weapons, such as Tasers, through acquiring its largest competitor and signing decade-long non-compete, market allocation, and no-poach agreements with its main competitor.

Rotavirus Antitrust Litigation

Baltimore v. Merck (E.D. Pa.): Cohen Milstein is representing the City of Baltimore in this putative antitrust class action, alleging that Merck’s bundled “loyalty” program for the rotavirus vaccine called RotaTeq is a scheme to leverage and maintain its monopoly in Rotavirus vaccines. As a consequence, Plaintiffs claim that Merck is able to charge customers supercompetitive prices.

In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation

In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation (E.D.N.Y.): Cohen Milstein represents gasoline retailers in numerous states in an antitrust class against Visa, Inc. and MasterCard, Inc. for orchestrating an anticompetitive scheme artificially inflating the “interchange fees” charged to process credit card transactions on their networks.

In re Actos Antitrust Litigation

In re Actos Antitrust Litigation (S.D.N.Y.): Cohen Milstein represents End-Payor Plaintiffs in this antitrust action, alleging that Defendant Takeda engaged in anticompetitive conduct related to the listing of certain patents in the FDA’s Orange Book thereby resulting in unlawful delays to the market entry of generic versions of Takeda’s diabetes drug, Actos.

In re Solodyn Antitrust Litigation

In re Solodyn Antitrust Litigation (D. Mass.): We served as a member of the executive committee and Ms. Robertson played a significant role in coordinating discovery on behalf of the End-Payor Plaintiffs. The case, which settled mid-trial, resulted in a $43 million recovery for the Class.

In re Blood Reagents Antitrust Litigation

In re Blood Reagents Antitrust Litigation (E.D. Pa.): Cohen Milstein served as one of four lead trial counsel in this certified class action. Plaintiffs alleged that the two leading producers of blood reagents, Ortho–Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. and Immucor, Inc., conspired to raise prices on traditional blood reagents. In 2012, Immucor reached a $22 million settlement. However, Ortho chose to go to trial after the court denied in part Ortho’s motion for summary judgement in 2017. Trial was set for June 2018 but Othro ultimately settled for $19.5 million, bringing total recoveries to $41.5 million.

In re Urethane Antitrust Litigation

In re Urethane Antitrust Litigation (D. Kan.): Cohen Milstein served as Co-Lead Counsel on behalf of a class of direct purchasers of urethane chemicals who were overcharged as a result of a nationwide price-fixing conspiracy. Cohen Milstein and their co-counsel prevailed at trial and obtained a judgment of $1.06 billion against Dow Chemical in 2013. Dow ultimately settled for $835 million while the case was on appeal before the Supreme Court, bringing the total recovery, including prior settlements with other defendants, to $974 million – nearly 250% of the damages found by the jury. The Honorable John W. Lungstrum, who presided over the trial, remarked: “In almost 25 years of service on the bench, this Court has not experienced a more remarkable result.”

ExxonMobil -Villagers of Aceh Litigation

John Doe I v. ExxonMobil Corporation (D.D.C.): Cohen Milstein represented eleven villagers from Aceh, Indonesia, who alleged that they or their relatives endured horrific human rights abuses, including murder, torture, sexual violence, and kidnapping, at the hands of Indonesian soldiers contracted by ExxonMobil to guard its oil operations in the region. On May 15, 2023, a week before a jury trial was to start and after 22 years of litigation, the case settled. Although the case was litigated in U.S. federal court, Indonesian law applied to Plaintiffs’ claims and was applied by the court. The case set numerous legal precedents during its 20-year history, during which it saw two trips to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals (decided January 2007 and July 2011) and one to the Supreme Court (certiorari was denied in 2008). Each time, novel issues of foreign policy impact, extraterritorial jurisdiction, and choice of law were briefed and considered by the Court of Appeals. In August 2022, months before trial, the district court largely denied ExxonMobil’s motion for summary judgment, finding most of its arguments “entirely meritless.” Cohen Milstein and co-counsel were awarded the 2024 Public Justice Trial Lawyer of the Year Award for the successful resolution of this case.