Peter Kohn

Learn more about Peter Kohn

Biography

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Peter Kohn is Chair of the Firm’s Pharmaceutical Litigation Department and Co-Chair of the Firm’s Antitrust Department. 

He is a 1992 graduate of Temple University Law School (cum laude), and a 1989 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (B.A., English).  At Temple Law School, he was senior staff for the Temple Law Review and received awards for trial advocacy. 

Mr. Kohn’s track record in antitrust is noteworthy.  He has prepared several significant lawsuits for trial under the Sherman and Clayton Acts, including In re Namenda Antitrust Litig., No. 15-7488 (S.D.N.Y.) ($750 million settlement), In re Modafinil Antitrust Litig., No. 06-1797 (E.D. Pa.) ($500 million settlement), In re Tricor Direct Purchaser Antitrust Litig., No. 05-340 (D. Del.) ($250 million settlement), In re Buspirone Patent & Antitrust Litig., MDL No. 1410 (S.D.N.Y.) ($220 million settlement), In re Relafen Antitrust Litig., No. 01-12239 (D. Mass.) ($175 million settlement), In re Lidoderm Antitrust Litig., No. 14-2521 (N.D. Cal.) ($166 million settlement), In re Aggrenox Antitrust Litig., No. 14-2516 (D. Conn.) ($146 million settlement), In re Loestrin 24 Fe Antitrust Litig., No. 13-2472 (D.R.I.) ($120 million settlement), In re Cardizem CD Antitrust Litig., No. 99-MD-1278 (E.D. Mich.) ($110 million settlement), In re Solodyn Antitrust Litig., No. 14-10438 (D. Mass) ($76 million settlement), In re Remeron Direct Purchaser Antitrust Litig., No. 03-cv-0085 (D.N.J.) ($75 million settlement), In re Terazosin Hydrochloride Antitrust Litig., No. 99-MDL-1317 (S.D. Fla.) ($72.5 million settlement), and Meijer, Inc. v. Warner-Chilcott, No. 05-2195 (D.D.C.) ($22 million settlement).  He has been appointed to leadership positions in several such cases, including In re Pennsylvania Title Ins. Antitrust Litig., No. 08cv1202 (E.D. Pa.), Mylan Pharms., Inc. v. Warner Chilcott, No. 12-cv-3824 (E.D. Pa.), In re Effexor XR Antitrust Litig., No. 11-cv-5479 (D.N.J.), In re Prandin Antitrust Litig., No. 10-12141 (E.D. Mich.), In re Suboxone (Buprenorphine Hydrochloride and Naloxone) Antitrust Litig., No. 13-2445 (E.D. Pa.), In re Loestrin 24 Fe Antitrust Litig., No. 13-2472 (D.R.I.), and In re Lidoderm Antitrust Litig., No. 14-2521 (N.D. Cal.).

He has also been a frequent invited speaker on antitrust issues.  He spoke before the American Bar Association’s Section of Antitrust Law’s Spring Meeting in 2010 (on the subject of resale price maintenance), 2015 (on the subject of product “hopping” and FDA risk mitigation abuse), and 2018 (on the subject of reverse-payment patent settlement agreements).  He spoke at HarrisMartin’s Antitrust Pay-for-Delay Litigation Conference in 2014, 2015, and 2017 on the subject of reverse-payment patent settlement agreements.  He spoke in 2012 on the subject of the filed rate doctrine at the American Antitrust Institute.  He has also spoken at ABA “brown bag” lunches on the subject of product hopping cases (2015) and reverse-payment patent settlement agreements (2017).

Earlier in his career, Mr. Kohn defended products liability, toxic and mass tort cases on behalf of insureds and self-insureds at LaBrum & Doak (1992-1994) and prosecuted toxic tort and civil rights actions, as an associate and then a partner, at Monheit, Monheit, Silverman & Fodera (1994-2000), where he first-chaired several complex and expert-intensive jury trials and argued a variety of pre-trial, post-trial, and appellate issues in state and federal courts.  While at the Monheit firm, Mr. Kohn acted as co-liaison counsel for plaintiffs in the lead-based paint poisoning litigation program of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, and served as class counsel in three civil rights class actions seeking injunctive relief on behalf of housing authority residents exposed to lead-based paint:  Collier v. Montgomery County Housing Auth., No. 97cv5286 (E.D. Pa.) (class certification conditionally granted, settlement for injunctive relief approved), Paige v. Philadelphia Housing Auth., No. 99cv497 (E.D. Pa.) (class certification denied), and Elliott v. Chicago Housing Auth., No. 98cv6307 (N.D. Ill.) (class certification granted, settlement for injunctive relief approved).  During that time he was instrumental in convincing the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to decide that the so-called “pollution exclusion” contained in a comprehensive general liability insurance policy should not be interpreted to exclude coverage for lead-based paint poisoning.  See Lititz Mut. Ins. Co. v. Steely, 567 Pa. 98, 785 A.2d 975 (Pa. 2001) (reversing id., 746 A.2d 607 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1999)); see also State Auto Ins. Cos. v. Summy, 234 F.3d 131 (3d Cir. 2000).  Working with the state legislature on behalf of his minor clients, Mr. Kohn also successfully advocated for an extension, to civil actions, of the “tender years” hearsay exception of the Pennsylvania Rules of Evidence, which until that time had been limited to criminal actions.

Mr. Kohn has been chosen by his peers as a “SuperLawyer” in Pennsylvania between 2009 and 2023.  He is a member of the bars of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second, Third, Sixth, Ninth, and Federal Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Eastern District of Michigan.

Mr. Kohn is active in his community.  He has served or is serving on the boards of Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, Commonwealth Youthchoirs, Settlement Music School (Mary Louise Curtis branch), and Penn’s Mask & Wig Club.

He lives in Center City Philadelphia with his wife and their two sons.