Competition

  • April 22, 2024

    DOJ Antitrust Concerns Topple $960M Insulation Biz Merger

    Insulation and building material provider TopBuild Corp. said Monday it has terminated its $960 million agreement to buy mechanical insulation provider Specialty Products & Insulation from private equity firm Incline Equity Partners, saying it was unable to reach a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice over antitrust concerns.

  • April 22, 2024

    FCC Fines AT&T, Internet Co. For Discussing Auction Bids

    AT&T Services Inc. and AMG Technology Investment Group LLC have not been able to convince the Federal Communications Commission to kibosh a combined $175,000 in fines for talking to each other during the bidding process for an auction of funds to subsidize infrastructure build-out.

  • April 22, 2024

    FCC Eyes Rule Changes For Independent Video Programmers

    The Federal Communications Commission plans to explore how federal rules can better help independent video programmers thrive in a competitive media landscape and may prohibit a pair of provisions that affect their contracts with distributors.

  • April 22, 2024

    Construction Supplier's Threats Cost Rival $30M, Jury Told

    A construction supplier told a Colorado federal jury Monday that a Berkshire Hathaway-owned rival tried to smother its entry into the calcium silicate industrial insulation market, alleging the larger company warned customers to stay away from the newcomer so that it could maintain its monopoly.

  • April 22, 2024

    Kroger, Albertsons Expand Divestiture Plan

    Supermarket giants Kroger and Albertsons are willing to let go of an extra 166 stores in the hopes of swaying federal and state regulators to drop their opposition to the $25 billion grocer union, they said Monday.

  • April 22, 2024

    Gambling Co., Casinos Battle Over Shuffler Antitrust Claims

    Scientific Games successor Light & Wonder has urged an Illinois federal judge not to certify a class of automatic card shuffler buyers, even as the riverboat casinos accusing it of tricking the patent office into shoring up its shuffler monopoly argued that their claims should go to trial.

  • April 22, 2024

    Robinhood 'Meme Stock' Investors Lose New Class Cert. Bid

    A Florida federal judge has denied a bid from Robinhood investors to file a new motion for class certification in a suit over the trading platform's suspension of so-called meme stock purchases, saying the deadline for class certification has passed and the investors have not shown a good reason to extend it.

  • April 22, 2024

    Court Tosses Shipbuilders No-Poach Case As Untimely

    A Virginia federal court found that a pair of warship designers haven't shown that major shipbuilders for the U.S. military, including General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls Industries, concealed a "gentlemen's agreement" to not poach workers from one another.

  • April 22, 2024

    Chamber Planning Prompt Challenge Of FTC Noncompete Ban

    U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials vowed Monday to immediately challenge an impending Federal Trade Commission rule that would ban essentially all noncompete agreements that employers impose on their workers, raising concerns focused principally on opening a "Pandora's box" of rulemaking they say is beyond FTC authority.

  • April 22, 2024

    FTC Moves To Block $8.5B Designer Fashion Deal

    The Federal Trade Commission moved on Monday to block a planned $8.5 billion deal for the parent company of Coach and Kate Spade to purchase the owner of designer brands Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo.

  • April 22, 2024

    What We've Learned From Biden-Era Merger Remedies

    Amid the Biden administration's uniquely aggressive merger regime, companies making deals face much higher hurdles convincing competition enforcers to accept divestitures, licensing deals or other remedies designed to address antitrust concerns. However, officials have provided a few clues about what settlements they'll accept and when.

  • April 22, 2024

    Vista Outdoors Nudges MNC Capital To Bolster $3B Bid

    Vista Outdoor Inc. on Monday urged investment firm MNC Capital to increase its prior $3 billion buyout offer, as Vista weighs MNC's proposals against an already inked merger agreement to sell its ammunition brands off to Czechoslovak Group.

  • April 22, 2024

    EU Threatens To Suspend 'Addictive' TikTok App Features

    The European Commission warned TikTok on Monday that it may suspend a key feature of the video sharing platform's new app that rewards users for watching videos unless it addresses the watchdog's concerns about addictive elements of the new app and its risk to mental health. 

  • April 22, 2024

    Thermo Fisher Says Rival Is Raiding Its Workforce

    Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is seeking to block Repligen Corp. from hiring one of its top executives, according to a suit in Massachusetts state court accusing the rival of a "systematic raiding" of its workforce.

  • April 22, 2024

    CMA Wins Battle Over Home Search Warrants In Cartel Probe

    The competition watchdog won a legal battle at a London court on Monday after a tribunal refused to grant it a domestic search warrant as it carried out a cartel investigation.

  • April 22, 2024

    High Court Denies US Soccer Petition In Antitrust Challenge

    The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition by the U.S. Soccer Federation asking it to dismiss for good a suit by a sports promoter accusing it of violating antitrust law by refusing to sanction international pro soccer games on American soil.

  • April 19, 2024

    Colo. Won't 'Defer' To Feds In Kroger-Albertsons Merger Suit

    Colorado's attorney general has defended his decision to file a case seeking to block a $24.6 billion merger between the supermarket chains Kroger and Albertsons, telling a state court judge that nothing requires him to "defer to federal enforcers."

  • April 19, 2024

    Judge Mulls Axing Biomedical Cos.' $25M Punitive Damages

    Not enough evidence supports Skye Orthobiologics' $25.5 million punitive damages award against an ex-employee found to have breached his fiduciary duties by leveraging Skye's proprietary information, a California federal judge has ruled, asking for briefing on whether the proper remedy is to cut the damages or grant a new trial.

  • April 19, 2024

    Yardi Ordered To Provide Info On Apartment Pricing Algorithm

    Real estate management software company Yardi Systems Inc. is going to have to turn over information about who has been using its rent maximizer algorithm to renters who claim that at least 11 property management companies have been using the service to fix rental costs, a federal judge has said.

  • April 19, 2024

    Vegas Paper Wants Antitrust Suit Paused For Appeal

    The Las Vegas Review-Journal asked a Nevada federal judge to pause the Las Vegas Sun's antitrust suit against it, pending an appeal to the Ninth Circuit over the core agreement between the papers that the Review-Journal says the judge wrongly cleared.

  • April 19, 2024

    DOJ Can't Coordinate Google Ad Tech Discovery With Texas

    A Virginia magistrate judge on Friday denied a request from the U.S. Department of Justice to coordinate discovery in its suit accusing Google of monopolizing key digital advertising technology with a similar case from state enforcers pending in Texas.

  • April 19, 2024

    AI Image Cos. Say Artists Offer Little Proof In Copyright Case

    Four companies that make or distribute artificial intelligence software that creates art through prompts have told a California federal court that a proposed class action from artists must end, arguing the plaintiffs still have not shown proof that any of the businesses infringed or induced infringement of copyrighted works.

  • April 19, 2024

    NY Scraps Proposal Impacting Local Broadband Networks

    Public broadband advocates are applauding a budget bill approved by New York's state Legislature that lacks previously proposed language they say would have weakened the state's rollout of locally owned wireless networks.

  • April 19, 2024

    French Train Biz Alstom Selling Signaling Biz For $671M

    French train manufacturer Alstom said Friday it has agreed to sell its North American conventional signaling business to German brake-maker Knorr-Bremse AG for about €630 million ($671 million). 

  • April 19, 2024

    Sidley, Perkins Coie Guiding Nordstrom On Strategic Review

    Sidley Austin LLP and Perkins Coie LLP are representing a special committee of Nordstrom Inc.'s board of directors that is looking into taking the Seattle-based luxury department store private after an earlier 2017 go-private plan fell apart.

Expert Analysis

  • 4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best

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    As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.

  • The Tricky Implications Of New Calif. Noncompete Laws

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    Two new California noncompete laws that ban certain out-of-state agreements and require employers to notify certain workers raise novel issues related to mergers and acquisitions, and pose particular challenges for technology companies, says John Viola at Thompson Coburn.

  • Planning For Healthcare-Private Equity Antitrust Enforcement

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    U.S. antitrust agency developments could mean potential enforcement actions on healthcare-related acquisitions by private equity funds are on the way, and entities operating in this space should follow a series of practice tips, including early assessment of antitrust risks on both the state and federal level, say Ryan Quillian and John Kendrick at Covington.

  • Series

    Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.

  • Parsing Chinese Governance On AI-Generated Content

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    As essential risk-mitigation, companies with a China reach should be aware of recent developments in Chinese oversight of AI-generated content, including the latest rulings and regulations as well as the updated ambit for supervisory bodies, say Jet Deng and Ken Dai at Dacheng.

  • Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs

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    Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.

  • Preparing For Possible Calif. Criminal Antitrust Enforcement

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    Though a recent announcement that the California Attorney General's Office will resume criminal prosecutions in support of its antitrust enforcement may be mere saber-rattling, companies and their counsel should nevertheless be prepared for interactions with the California AG's Antitrust Section that are not limited to civil liability issues, say Dylan Ballard and Lillian Sun at V&E.

  • Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent

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    Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.

  • Antitrust Ruling Shows Limits Of US Law's Global Reach

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    Antitrust plaintiffs often cite the legislative history of the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act to support application of U.S. antitrust law to alleged injuries abroad, but as a California federal court recognized recently in Figaro v. Apple, the cited history does no such thing, say Daniel Swanson and Eli Lazarus at Gibson Dunn.

  • Independent Regulator Could Chip Away At FIFA Autonomy

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    After the U.K.'s recent proposal for an independent football regulator, FIFA's commitment to safeguarding football association autonomy remains unwavering, despite a history of complexities arising from controversies in the bidding and hosting of major tournaments, say Yasin Patel at Church Court Chambers and Caitlin Haberlin-Chambers at SLAM Global.

  • A Look At 3 Noncompete Bans Under Consideration In NYC

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    A trio of noncompete bills currently pending in the New York City Council would have various effects on employers' abilities to enter into such agreements with their employees, reflecting growing anti-noncompete sentiment across the U.S., say Tracey Diamond and Grace Goodheart at Troutman Pepper.

  • Series

    Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.

  • DOJ's Safe Harbor Policy May Quietly Favor M&A Enforcement

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    In a change that has received little attention, the U.S. Justice Department's recently codified safe harbor policy essentially reads the Antitrust Division's criminal enforcement out of the policy entirely, and now appears to favor merger enforcement in antitrust, rather than criminal enforcement, as originally intended, say Daniel Oakes and James Attridge at Axinn.

  • Examining The Arbitration Clause Landscape Amid Risks

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    Amid a new wave of mass arbitrations, recent developments in the courts and from the American Arbitration Association suggest that companies should improve arbitration clause drafting to protect themselves against big-ticket settlements and avoid major potential liability, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • How Policymakers Can Preserve The Promise Of Global Trade

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    Global trade faces increasing challenges but could experience a resurgence if long-held approaches adjust and the U.S. accounts for factors that undermine free trade's continuing viability, such as regional trading blocs and the increasing speed of technological advancement, says David Jividen at White & Case.

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