Practice Areas
Industries
Competition
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May 29, 2012
Canada Watchdog Wins Divestiture In CCS Merger Challenge
Canada’s Competition Tribunal on Tuesday ruled in favor of the country's antitrust watchdog in the regulator's first merger challenge in seven years, ordering CCS Corp. to sell off a hazardous waste landfill site in northeastern British Columbia as part of its buyout of a rival.
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May 29, 2012
4 Mortgage Insurers Cut From HSBC Kickback Scheme Suit
A California federal judge on Friday dismissed four mortgage insurers from a proposed class action over an alleged kickback scheme with HSBC USA Inc.'s reinsurance unit, saying the plaintiff had not shown there was any conspiracy among the mortgage insurers.
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May 29, 2012
Haiti Telecom Exec Gets Sentence Cut To 18 Months
A Florida federal judge on Tuesday slashed the prison sentence of a former executive at Haiti's state-owned telecommunications company to 18 months after prosecutors sought a reduced sentence for his cooperation in a far-reaching bribery probe that has put several executives and government officials behind bars.
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May 29, 2012
Brazil Finalizes Merger Rules With Reduced Info Demands
Brazil's antitrust authority finalized rules Tuesday outlining how the merger notification process will work under the country's new competition law, requiring less information for simple transactions but stopping short of making all the changes businesses and attorneys had advocated.
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May 29, 2012
American's Antitrust Trial Against Ticketing Firm Delayed
Sabre Holdings Corp. has received a 60-day extension in American Airlines Inc.'s antitrust suit against the ticket distribution company, which will push the start date of the bankrupt airline's Texas state court trial to October, Sabre said Tuesday.
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May 29, 2012
Ex-CCI Sales Chief Pleads Guilty In Foreign Bribery Case
The former head of sales for valve manufacturer Control Components Inc. on Tuesday pled guilty in California federal court to charges stemming from his part in an alleged multimillion-dollar foreign bribery scheme, a move that could significantly reduce his possible prison sentence.
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May 29, 2012
Time Warner Fights Pause In Enforcement Of Franchise Ruling
Time Warner and the Texas Cable Association on Monday challenged a Texas federal court’s decision to delay implementing a Fifth Circuit ruling that parts of a state cable-franchising statute are unconstitutional until the U.S. Supreme Court can consider an appeal.
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May 29, 2012
DuPont Unit's Pannar Buy Gets OK From S. African Court
A South African appeals court on Monday cleared DuPont Co. unit Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. to buy a majority stake in Pannar Seed (Pty) Ltd., overruling two competition agencies that had blocked the acquisition for fear it would jack up prices in South Africa's $300 million hybrid corn seed market.
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May 29, 2012
AG Eyeing Claims Dartmouth Invests Endowment With 'Cabal'
The New Hampshire attorney general's office is reviewing allegations that Dartmouth College invested its $3.4 billion endowment primarily with a "cabal" of private equity and hedge funds managed by college trustees, a Dartmouth spokesman acknowledged Tuesday.
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May 29, 2012
FTC Says NC Dental Bill Would Thwart Competition
The Federal Trade Commission criticized a North Carolina bill Tuesday that would give the state's dental board authority over organizations that provide back-office support for dentists, warning that the proposal would limit competition among dentists while doing little to make patients safer.
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May 29, 2012
Split 2nd Circ. Won't Review Amex Antitrust Arbitration Suit
The Second Circuit declined Tuesday to review a ruling that American Express Co. could not enforce an arbitration clause requiring merchants to waive class action rights in making antitrust claims, despite some circuit judges' arguments that it goes against the Federal Arbitration Act.
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May 30, 2012
Dewey & LeBoeuf Files For Bankruptcy
Following the defection of more than half its partners, debt-ridden Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP filed for bankruptcy Monday night, marking one of the largest law firm collapses in U.S. history.
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May 25, 2012
US Drops 9th Circ. Appeal In Lindsey FCPA Case
Federal prosecutors on Friday dropped their Ninth Circuit appeal of the dismissal of the Lindsey Manufacturing Co. indictment, five months after a judge lambasted them for their misconduct in the first Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case that resulted in a corporation’s conviction.
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May 25, 2012
Community Bank's Libor Antitrust Suit Targets BofA, Others
A Wisconsin-based community bank launched a putative class action Friday against Bank of America NA, Citibank NA and JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, alleging that their manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate cost community banks between $300 and $500 million annually.
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May 25, 2012
Allergan, Others Look To Ice Apotex Monopoly Suit
Allergan Inc. and two Japanese drug makers urged a Delaware federal court Thursday to pause Apotex Inc.'s monopolization suit over Allergan's decision to market a new formulation of Zymar until an underlying patent dispute between the companies over the eye infection medication is resolved.
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May 25, 2012
Uncertainty Reigns On Eve Of Brazil's Antitrust Overhaul
Brazilian lawmakers have approved new leadership for the country's antitrust agency less than a week before the country's new competition law takes effect Tuesday, but attorneys say the mood remains anxious as businesses and lawyers wait for the watchdog to issue final regulations for the overhaul.
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May 25, 2012
FCC General Counsel Schlick To Step Down
Federal Communications Commission general counsel Austin Schlick will step down from the post in mid-June and be replaced by his current deputy, Sean Lev, the regulator said Friday.
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May 25, 2012
AT&T, Motorola, Qualcomm Say Conspiracy Claims Lack Legs
AT&T Inc., Motorola Mobility Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. on Wednesday asked a Mississippi federal court to dismiss allegations that the companies are conspiring to box smaller wireless carriers out of the market, saying a local provider has not shown evidence of a conspiracy.
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May 25, 2012
Texas Co. Says Cybex Stole Secrets, Muscled Competition
A Texas fitness equipment manufacturer on Thursday hit a former employee and Cybex International Inc. with a petition in state court accusing them of conspiring to steal trade secrets and campaigning to drive the company out of business.
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May 25, 2012
NRG Rival Sues To Halt $120M Calif. Car-Charging Deal
Electric vehicle charging company ECOtality Inc. on Friday sued to block a $120 million settlement between NRG Energy Inc. and California regulators that would create electric car-charging stations across the state, saying the deal gives NRG a statewide monopoly.
Expert Analysis
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Vertical Pricing Restraints — State Developments
Two recent cases — O’Brien v. Leegin Creative Leather Prods. Inc. and People v. Tempur-Pedic International Inc. — continue the uncertainty about the treatment of resale price maintenance at the state level, and one raises significant counseling issues because of its potential application to a broader range of pricing practices, say Thomas Demitrack and Kathryn Fenton of Jones Day.
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Facebook’s Instagram Deal: Why Is The FTC Involved?
Facebook Inc.'s $1 billion Instagram deal is between a social networking firm with 900 million subscribers and a firm that provides a photo-sharing application for mobile phones with some 30 million users — not exactly head-to-head competitors. But there are some possible anti-competitive scenarios that the Federal Trade Commission might consider, say managing directors of consulting firm ARPC.
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Avoiding FCPA Prosecution For Employee Conduct
Contrasting the enforcement positions in the recent Morgan Stanley and Noble Corp. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases, a few factors stand out as potentially influencing when companies will be held responsible for the actions of their employees, and when such actions will be viewed as “rogue” conduct, say attorneys with Steptoe & Johnson LLP.
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Novel Theories Have No Place In The Courtroom
Courts have been and should remain steadfast in the principles articulated in Daubert — concluding that antitrust experts should only be permitted to testify if the methodology used has been vetted, tested and accepted before the opinions reach the courthouse, say Carl Hittinger and Monique Galloway of DLA Piper.
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Bringing Civil Anti-Monopoly Cases Under China's AML
Since introduction of China's Anti-Monopoly Law in 2008, a number of civil cases have been brought before the courts, but few, if any, have resulted in a successful judgment for breach of the AML. To address this, the Supreme People’s Court of China recently issued final rules to build a working framework for civil anti-monopoly cases brought under the AML, say Henry Chen and Frank Schoneveld of McDermott Will & Emery LLP.
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Beware Obstruction Of Justice In Merger Investigations
The actions by the U.S. Department of Justice in USA v. Pyo may mark the first time criminal charges have been brought against defendants for altering documents submitted with a Hart-Scott-Rodino filing and during a merger investigation. The charges serve as a stark reminder that HSR filings and subsequent Federal Trade Commission and DOJ review and analysis of a proposed transaction constitute an "official proceeding" for purposes of the criminal obstruction statutes, say attorneys with Jones Day.
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Best Practices For Corporate Social Responsibility
As with many industries, the legal services industry has adapted to the demand for sustainability practices. An effective Corporate Social Responsibility program will manifest itself in all strategic planning, from best firm employee practices and environmental sustainability to providing legal services, recruiting and retention of employees, business development, marketing and philanthropy, says Howard Dakoff of Levenfeld Pearlstein LLC.
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Cracking Down On Cross-Market Hedging
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission insists that its rules concerning manipulative energy transactions are clear, and that it has the jurisdiction to pursue manipulation claims wherever the trail may lead, even if it is to markets that lie beyond its traditional stomping grounds in wholesale gas and electric markets for physically delivered products. But industry observers question both propositions, say attorneys with Winston & Strawn LLP.
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UK Bribery Act — There’s A New Constable In Town
While David Green’s recent arrival as director of the U.K. Serious Fraud Office certainly appears to usher in a far more aggressive prosecution policy, rather than the pragmatic — and some would say lenient — approach of the last four years, his task will not be easy, says Raymond Sweigart of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.
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The UMG-EMI Merger And The Substitutability Of Sound
Given the heightened scrutiny placed on digital sampling after the Bridgeport decision, musicians face increased pressure to get a license to sample a sound recording. It is possible that Universal Music Group's intended purchase of EMI's recorded-music business would lead to higher prices, lower output, and a loss of original and innovative music, says Daniel Vitelli of Constantine Cannon LLP.