Michael M. Buchman
Position:
Partner
Office:
New York
Practice Areas:
Law School:
Fordham University School of Law
Admitted:
States of New York and Connecticut; U.S. District Courts of Arizona, Connecticut, Southern District of New York, Eastern District of New York; U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit; U.S. Court of International Trade; U.S. Supreme Court
Michael M. Buchman, formerly an Assistant Attorney General in the Antitrust Bureau of the New York State Attorney General's Office, joined the Firm as a partner in 2007. Over the past twenty years, Mr. Buchman has successfully prosecuted complex antitrust and consumer protection class actions for a wide array of clients ranging from a large Fortune 500 corporation to individual consumers. He has served as Lead or Co-Lead Counsel in a number of antitrust class actions, including "generic drug" cases challenging anticompetitive conduct by pharmaceutical companies designed to artificially inflate the price of brand name prescription drugs. A list of some of these successful cases include the following:
| Case | Settlement | Court Recognition | Charitable Award Recipient |
| In re Buspirone Antitrust Litig., MDL 1413 (S.D.N.Y.) | $90 million | Let me say that the lawyers in this case have done a stupendous job. They really have. Judge John G. Koeltl | |
| In re Relafen Antitrust Litig., 01-12222-WGY (D. Mass.) | $75 million | This proposed settlement is the result of a great deal of very fine lawyering. Chief Judge William G. Young | |
Kruman v. Christies Int'l PLC, 00-CV-6322(LAK) | $40 million | His work was "tenacious and skillful." Judge Lewis A. Kaplan | |
| In re Augmentin Antitrust Litig., 02 Civ. 445 (Ed. Va. Norfolk Div.) | $29 million | St. Jude Children's Research Hospital; Children's Rights of New York; Eastern Virginia Medical School; Brigham & Women's Hospital. | |
| In re Reformulated Gasoline (RFG) Antitrust Litig., MDL No. 05-1671 (C.D. Cal.) | $48 million |
California Community Colleges California Community Colleges, Balance Foundation, Bay Area Clean Air Foundation, California Center for Sustainable Energy, CALSTART, Center for Community and Environmental Justice, Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technology, East Bay Clean Cities Coalition, Mothers of East Los Angeles, Southern California Regional Transit Training Consortium, and Uncommon Good. |
While at his prior firm, Mr. Buchman was actively involved in In re NASDAQ Market-Makers Antitrust Litig., MDL 1023 (S.D.N.Y.) (resulting in a $1.027 billion settlement) and In re Visa Check/Mastermoney Antitrust Litigation, CV 96-5238 (E.D.N.Y.) (resulting in a $3 billion settlement) which are two of the largest antitrust settlements in the over one hundred year history of the Sherman Act. In the NASDAQ case, Judge Robert W. Sweet commended counsel for its work saying:
Counsel for the Plaintiffs are preeminent in the field of class action litigation, and the roster of counsel for the Defendants includes some of the largest, most successful, and well regarded firms in the country. It is difficult to conceive of better representation than the parties to this action.
Mr. Buchman is presently representing Payless ShoeSource, Inc., in another litigation against Visa/MasterCard and their member banks concerning their alleged practice of collectively imposing and setting the level of interchange fees paid daily by merchants on each Visa and MasterCard credit and debit transaction.
An avid kiteboarder, Mr. Buchman successfully defended a major surf, kite, tow-in and stand-up board manufacturer in a federal court action commenced by Real Watersports, Inc.
He frequently speaks on antitrust and consumer protection class action issues and appeared on the CBS Evening News in connection with "generic drug" litigations. Mr. Buchman has also authored or co-authored articles on procedure or competition law including a Task Force on Dealer Terminations for The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Committee on Antitrust and Trade Regulation entitled Dealer Termination in New York dated June 1,1998 and What's in a Name - the Diversity Death-Knell for Underwriters of Lloyd's of London and their Names; Humm v. Lombard World Trade, Inc., Vol. 4, Issue 10 International Insurance Law Review 314 (1996).
Mr. Buchman is equally committed to public interest and pro bono work. He currently serves as a member of the Flood and Erosion Committee for the Town of Westport, Connecticut and as Pro Bono Counsel in actions brought by relatives of deceased individuals who purchased perpetual care services from a New York synagogue which has publicly admitted that it misappropriated perpetual care monies. See www.baysidecemeterylitigation.com. He has also coached youth ice hockey teams at Chelsea Piers in New York City.
