Overall
Key cases
Industries
Intellectual Property
Labor & Employment
Corporate
Practice Areas
Competition
-
May 22, 2013
9th Circ. Won't Revive BofA Debit Card Fee Suit
A proposed class of Bank of America NA customers failed Wednesday to revive their suit over the bank's service fees for payroll debit cards, after the Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court's ruling that the National Bank Act preempts the suit's state law fraud and unfair competition claims.
-
May 22, 2013
Fla. Health Clinic Director Gets 9 Years, $24M For Fraud
A Miami federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a former health care clinic director and licensed therapist to more than nine years in prison and a personal judgment of nearly $25 million for his role in a $63 million Medicare and Medicaid fraud case.
-
May 22, 2013
Penguin To Pay $75M To Settle States' E-Book Antitrust Claims
Pearson PLC's Penguin Group USA Inc. has agreed to pay $75 million to resolve allegations, lodged by state attorneys general and a proposed consumer class, that it conspired with other publishers and Apple Inc. to fix e-book prices, Pearson said Wednesday.
-
May 22, 2013
9th Circ. Squashes MGA Suit Over Robot Co.'s Toy Bug Claims
The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a lower court ruling tossing MGA Entertainment Inc.’s lawsuit alleging Innovation First Inc. engaged in an anti-competitive scheme by making false statements about the design for a robotic insect toy, ruling IFI lacked jurisdictional ties with California for the suit to proceed.
-
May 21, 2013
Alioto Can't Unfreeze $28M LCD Fee Cut From Escrow
A California federal judge Monday refused lawyer Joseph M. Alioto's attempt to unfreeze $28.2 million in attorneys' fees for liquid crystal display multidistrict, price-fixing litigation while third party LFG National Capital LLC's lawsuit over a lien against his firm is still pending.
-
May 21, 2013
Chimei Inks Initial Deal In Retailers' LCD Price-Fixing Case
Target Corp., Sears Roebuck and Co. and several other retailers in multidistrict litigation accusing a slew of electronics makers of fixing the price of liquid crystal display panels said Tuesday that they had reached a preliminary deal with Chimei Innolux Corp. to settle the dispute.
-
May 21, 2013
Denso Execs To Plead Guilty In Auto Parts Cartel Probe: DOJ
Two more executives at Japan's Denso Corp. have agreed to cop to their roles in international plots to fix prices for auto parts and to serve more than a year in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday.
-
May 20, 2013
Agencies Deserve Deference On Jurisdiction, Justices Say
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that courts should apply a deferential standard of review toward a federal agency's definition of its own jurisdiction, siding with the Federal Communications Commission in a fight with local government agencies over zoning rules for wireless facilities.
-
May 17, 2013
Ex-Broker Gets Probation For Muni Bond Bid-Rigging
After cooperating with a sweeping multistate investigation, the former CEO of a New York-based brokerage was sentenced to two years of probation Friday for his role in a municipal bond bid-rigging conspiracy.
-
May 16, 2013
Purdue Puts Generic OxyContin Suits To Rest
Purdue Pharma LP on Thursday settled its suits against KVK-Tech Inc. and Varam Inc. in New York multidistrict litigation over plans to market a generic version of painkiller OxyContin.
-
May 16, 2013
Comcast Antitrust Ruling Offers Hope Despite Dow Loss
In the first major antitrust ruling to apply the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Comcast decision, a judge refused Wednesday to decertify a plaintiffs class and spare The Dow Chemical Co. $1.2 billion in damages. However, the ruling still offers a ray of hope for other defendants in antitrust class actions, attorneys say.
-
May 16, 2013
US Foodservice Must Yield Docs In $800M Price-Scam MDL
Businesses suing Royal Ahold NV and U.S. Foodservice Inc. over an alleged $800 million price-inflation scheme won access Thursday to documents from an additional 25 people who might have information relevant to the multidistrict litigation in Connecticut federal court.
-
May 15, 2013
Damages Against Dow Upped To $1.2B In Urethane Suit
A Kansas federal court on Wednesday entered judgment in favor of a class of urethane foam buyers who won a $400 million jury verdict against The Dow Chemical Co. in a price-fixing dispute in February, trebling the damages to $1.2 billion.
-
May 15, 2013
Foxconn Beats Antitrust Suit Over USB Technology
A New York federal judge on Tuesday tossed a lawsuit alleging China-based Foxconn International Inc. stifled competitors by flouting licensing terms for standard-essential patents covering USB 3.0 connectors, ruling the alleged misconduct fell outside the scope of U.S. antitrust laws.
-
May 15, 2013
FTC Wins Restraining Order In $195M Phoebe Merger Fight
A Georgia federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked Phoebe Putney Health System Inc. from further integrating its operations with a nearby rival, a ruling that comes in the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust challenge of the now-consummated $195 million acquisition.
-
May 14, 2013
Lipitor Pay-For-Delay Suit Returned To W.Va. State Court
A federal judge on Monday sent to state court West Virginia's allegations that Pfizer Inc. entered an anti-competitive settlement of a patent dispute with a company seeking to make generic Lipitor, ruling the suit did not arise under federal law.
-
May 13, 2013
CR Bard Pays $48M To Settle FCA, Kickback Claims
C.R. Bard Inc. will hand over approximately $48.3 million to the federal government to settle whistleblower allegations that it filed false Medicare claims and paid hospitals various kickbacks to use its brachytherapy seeds for prostate cancer treatment, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.
-
May 10, 2013
Dial, Heinz Urged To Move News Corp. Coupon Suit To NY
An antitrust suit brought by H.J. Heinz Co. and Henkel Corp.-owned Dial Corp. against News Corp. over coupon and in-store promotional services it provides should be moved to New York, a Michigan magistrate judge recommended Friday.
-
May 10, 2013
German Banker Drops Appeal Of Formula 1 Bribery Sentence
A German banker sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison for accepting a $44 million bribe in connection with private equity firm CVC Capital Partners Ltd.’s acquisition of a controlling interest in Formula One racing reportedly dropped his appeal of his sentence on Friday.
-
May 9, 2013
Estee Lauder Beats Duty-Free Retailer's Antitrust Suit
A federal judge on Thursday tossed Duty Free Americas Inc.'s suit accusing Estee Lauder Cos. Inc. of attempting to force it out of the airport retail business and monopolize the beauty product market in duty-free stores, saying the retailer's evidence didn’t back up its claims.
Expert Analysis
-
Corporate Leniency Should Come With A Warning Label
When a client comes to the antitrust doctor with a case of “cartelitis," there is often a good news/bad news discussion. The benefits of the corporate leniency “cure” are well known, but the patient must understand the long list of unpleasant side effects before proceeding. And, in some situations, the best option may be to seek an alternative treatment, says Robert Connolly of DLA Piper.
-
Bazaarvoice-PowerReviews Merger Case: Where's The Beef?
Reading the U.S. Department of Justice's complaint challenging the consummated merger between Bazaarvoice Inc. and PowerReviews Inc. reminds me of the old Wendy’s commercial in which a little old lady looks at a tiny fast-food hamburger and asks, “Where’s the beef?” The absence of actual evidence of anti-competitive impact sits at odds with successful post-merger challenges, says David Balto of the Law Offices of David A. Balto.
-
4 UK Bribery Act Myths — Debunked
The U.K. Bribery Act is somewhat complicated. Not surprisingly, therefore, misperceptions have arisen regarding its provisions, especially regarding the requirements, scope and exclusivity of Section 7 corporate liability, says Eli Richardson of Bass Berry & Sims PLC.
-
Rise Of The Machines — Predictive Coding Goes Mainstream
The pros of using predictive coding far outweigh the cons. Given the heavy pressure on law firms and in-house counsel to reduce discovery costs, as well as the Justice Department's recent stance on the subject, it appears predictive coding will continue to emerge from the obscure world of legal technology to the mainstream of legal practice, say Michael Moscato and Myles Bartley of Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP.
-
Unprecedented FCPA Wake-Up Call For US Broker-Dealers
The extraordinary criminal bribery charges against two registered representatives of a U.S. broker-dealer and a high-level Venezuelan government official highlight that a broker-dealer’s anti-money laundering procedures, as well as oversight of their registered people, should have a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act component if the firm is doing international business, say attorneys with Duane Morris LLP.
-
5 Overlooked Reasons To Be Class Rep In An Antitrust Suit
In many circumstances in antitrust litigation, standing up as a class representative may be an effective way to protect the company’s interests while assuring that it and other victims of anti-competitive behavior receive the monetary recovery they deserve, say Kellie Lerner and Ryan Marth of Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi LLP.
-
Libor Litigation Must Overcome Significant Obstacles
When U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald dismissed a consolidated, multidistrict batch of antitrust and racketeering suits in Manhattan earlier this spring, she suggested plaintiffs seeking to recover from banking giants at the heart of the interest rate-fixing scandal might have better luck with securities fraud claims. But those plaintiffs will need to be lucky indeed. Two recent developments show that obstacles are inherent and, perhaps, insurmountable, say attorneys with Choate Hall & Stewart LLP.
-
More DOJ Use Of Cooperating Witnesses In Corruption Cases
The emergence of a cooperating witness begins to complete the puzzle of the scheme to defraud and catapults the investigation to new heights. A recent arrest by the FBI in an ongoing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation appears to follow this same modus operandi, says Douglas Small of Berkeley Research Group LLC.
-
4 Takeaways From 2nd Highest FCPA Penalty
A New York federal court recently entered a final judgment against a former Siemens AG executive for his alleged role in a purported $100 million bribery scheme for Siemens to obtain a $1 billion contract from Argentina. Third-party sham contracts continue to be a prevalent theme in the alleged facts contained in corruption enforcement filings and resolutions, say attorneys with Fulbright & Jaworski LLP.
-
Calif. To Draw The Lines In Disparagement Liability
The California Supreme Court's upcoming decision in Hartford Casualty Insurance Co. v. Swift Distribution Inc. will resolve a hot debate about the scope of implied disparagement liability under California law, likely determining whether insurers must defend lawsuits involving allegations of intellectual property infringement, unfair competition and false advertising, says Tyler Gerking of Farella Braun & Martel LLP.