Ethan J. Barlieb, a partner of the Firm, concentrates his practice in the areas of antitrust, privacy and consumer protection litigation.
Representative matters include:
- American depositary receipt (ADR) FX cases: Ethan served as one of the lead attorneys in three separate class cases that were litigated in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The cases were filed on behalf of investors in ADRs against three of the world’s largest depositary banks – BNY Mellon, Citibank and JPMorgan. In each of these cases, the plaintiffs challenged the banks’ practice of charging investors an undisclosed spread when it conducted foreign exchange transactions in connection with the ADRs. According to the plaintiffs, this conduct violated the terms of agreements that governed the ADRs. The cases survived motions to dismiss and proceeded through fact and expert discovery and were collectively settled for $96 million.
- In re Ranbaxy Generic Drug Application Antitrust Litigation: Ethan was a member of the litigation team for this antitrust and RICO case against generic pharmaceutical manufacturer, Ranbaxy, Inc., for allegedly defrauding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration with respect to generic drug applications and thereby delaying generic competition for three drugs – Diovan, Valcyte and Nexium. Ethan represented certified classes of direct purchasers of these drugs, whose claims in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts were sustained over motions to dismiss and summary judgment, eventually settling prior to trial for $340 million.
- In re Zetia (Ezetimibe) Antitrust Litigation: This case, which settled on the eve of trial for a total of $600 million, concerned an allegedly illegal settlement between Merck, the brand manufacturer of the cholesterol drug Zetia, and the generic manufacturer, Glenmark, that resulted in a substantial delay of generic competition and higher prices for drug purchasers. Ethan supported the Court-appointed lead counsel in the case on both fact and expert discovery and various pre-trial matters.
- Ford Exhaust Fumes Consumer Litigation: Ethan was the lead attorney in this class action against Ford Motor Company in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan related to a purported defect in Ford Explorers that allowed exhaust fumes to enter the passenger compartment while the vehicles were in use. The case was litigated through fact and expert discovery and culminated in a settlement that provided vehicle owners the opportunity to remedy the issue and the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses. Ethan successfully presented argument against Ford’s motion to dismiss, and prior to resolution, he argued for the certification of multistate classes of vehicles owners.
- In re: Target Corporation Customer Data Security Breach Litigation: This data breach against Target affected 70 million customers nationwide. Ethan assisted the Court-appointed lead counsel and represented a class of banks and credit unions that were impacted by the breach. The case ultimately resulted in a settlement of approximately $40 million for financial institutions.
In addition, Ethan has litigated a variety of antitrust cases concerning pharmaceuticals and other products, consumer cases concerning the economic losses caused by defective products, and cases concerning violations of federal securities law. Ethan is currently involved, among other things, in litigation against pharmaceutical manufacturers for the unfair pricing of pharmaceutical products, like insulin, and is a member of the Steering Committee for In re: Passenger Vehicle Replacement Tires Antitrust Litigation pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
Prior to joining Kessler Topaz, Ethan was an associate a regional law firm, where he worked on various commercial, securities and employment matters.
Clerkships
The Honorable Mitchell S. Goldberg
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania