Priceless: The Case that Brought Down the Visa/MasterCard Bank Cartel - Hardcover

Constantine, Lloyd

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1607144565 ISBN 13: 9781607144564

Publisher: Kaplan Publishing, 2009

Synopsis

In a ground-breaking case that shook the business and legal worlds to their very cores, New York-based law firm Constantine & Partners sought to end a devastating credit monopoly that personally touched millions of consumers. Its efforts culminated in the largest federal antitrust settlement in U.S. history. In Priceless, author and lead counsel Lloyd Constantine relates the dramatic account of backroom strategizing and courtroom conniving during the high-stakes litigation. Constantine, who led the team representing the plaintiffs, vividly describes how the case pitted retailers against credit card companies, and pries the lid off dodgy debit card practices. The plaintiffs, including Wal-Mart, Sears Roebuck, The Limited, Safeway, and a class of five million stores, pitted their financial futures against Visa and Mastercard in this war between giants.

In the vein of breakout bestsellers like A Civil Action and A Confederacy of Fools, this fast-paced narrative, peppered with larger-than-life characters, tears open the case and shows readers how the more than $3-billion-dollar settlement came about. The riveting story features cameos by lawyers, judges, and businessmen, including then University of Arkansas law professor Bill Clinton and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The triumph is also a David and Goliath tale, in which a small boutique law firm beats four of the largest law firms in the world, including London-based law firm Clifford Chance.

About this title

About the Author:

Lloyd Constantine is Counsel to Constantine Cannon LLP, a commercial litigation firm in New York and Washington, D.C. with an internationally acclaimed antitrust practice, where Eliot Spitzer worked for several years. He was lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the landmark Visa Check/MasterMoney Antitrust Litigation, which resulted in a $3.4 billion monetary settlement and an historic injunction, which the court valued as providing upwards of $87 billion in benefit for U.S. merchants and consumers. Constantine was Senior Advisor to Governor Spitzer from January 2007 until April 2008. He advised the Governor on a broad range of public policy issues and directed the Administration's initiatives in the areas of Higher Education, Local Government Efficiency, Public Authority Reform and the legal representation of New York's poor in civil and criminal proceedings. He is the author of Priceless: The Case That Brought Down the Visa/Mastercard Bank Cartel.

Review:

“

Constantine's brilliant but easy to read book is a David and Goliath story about his own career and the seminal Visa/MasterCard case that broke the back of a giant anticonsumer conspiracy and that reaffirmed the core pro-competition concept that lies at the heart of America and its economic system.

” (Robert Abrams, Former Attorney General of New York)

“

Priceless lifts 'crusading lawyer' from the dustbin of cliches and gives the term new meaning. Lloyd Constantine tells the story of the nation's largest (by far) antitrust case with candor, clarity, and wit. 

” (Nick Taylor, award-winning author of American Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA: When FDR Put the Nation to Work)

“

At a time when class actions and plaintiffs' attorneys are under attack, this book is an essential corrective. It demonstrates that private enforcement can work—but only when dedicated counsel are willing to be their careers on a David-versus-Goliath battle with the industry. Lloyd Constantine and his colleagues broke a cartel that robbed consumers and restrained competition—and did it with virtually no help from the government. But they almost lost on several occasions. Big case litigation is a marathon, not a spring, and this behind-the-scenes account reveals the tactics—fair and foul—that defendants can use to crush their opponents. Many will not like how they are portrayed in this 'tell-all' account that is opinionated, acerbic, and pulls no punches. But much like A Civil Action, it provides a blunt, 'warts and all' perspective on the real world of mega-litigation.

” (John Coffee, Adolf A. Berle Professor of Law, Columbia University Law School)

About this edition

• Publisher: Kaplan Publishing
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1607144565
• ISBN 13: 9781607144564
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272