Competition

May 01, 2024
Republicans Say Bank Merger Reviews 'Need A Shot Clock'

House Republicans on Wednesday raised concerns with federal banking officials about how long it can take their agencies to sign off on proposed bank mergers, a long-standing industry complaint that the lawmakers say a tight "shot clock" could help address.
May 01, 2024
Sens. Slam UnitedHealth's Security Lapses, Breach Response

UnitedHealth's top executive faced heavy criticism during his first appearance before a U.S. Senate committee since a cyberattack rocked its Change Healthcare subsidiary, with lawmakers blasting the company for lacking basic security measures and for still not being able to confirm the scale and scope of the incident.
May 01, 2024
Sheppard Mullin Hires Paul Weiss Healthcare Antitrust Pro

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP said Wednesday that it has hired a counsel from Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP who is joining as partner in the firm's antitrust and competition practice group in New York.
May 01, 2024
Future Is 'Bleak' If Judge Rejects Novant Merger, Court Hears

Novant Health on Wednesday sought to portray itself as the "last best hope" to save two struggling hospitals in North Carolina at the start of a multiday hearing in which the Federal Trade Commission is asking the court to squelch Novant's proposed $320 million merger.
May 01, 2024
Colorado Asks Judge To Review New Kroger Spinoffs At Trial

Kroger can't throw a new divestiture plan on the table two months before discovery closes and then ask the court to consider it when deciding whether to hand down a preliminary injunction blocking its $25 billion union with Albertsons from moving forward, the state of Colorado says.
May 01, 2024
Chancery Nixes Amazon.com Investor's Antitrust Docs Probe

An Amazon.com stockholder on Wednesday lost a Delaware Court of Chancery suit seeking court-ordered access to company records to probe claims that the online retailing giant engages in anti-competitive practices, with a court magistrate finding the evidence insufficient to justify the demand.
May 01, 2024
Bayer Can't Scratch Off Antitrust Suit Over Flea, Tick Meds

A California federal judge has largely declined Bayer's bid to dismiss generics competitor Tevra's pet medication antitrust suit, saying in an order released Wednesday that there are factual disputes about whether Bayer's exclusivity deals with distributors and retailers significantly foreclosed Tevra's potential sales in the market.
May 01, 2024
Sony, PlayStation Users Spar Over Early Antitrust Cert. Denial

Sony and PlayStation Store users fought before a California federal judge Wednesday over the company's bid to deny class certification to users who claim it overcharged them through a monopoly on downloadable game cards, with the users arguing that Sony waived its arbitration arguments under the Ninth Circuit's recent Hill ruling.
May 01, 2024
Chamber Must Name Cos. It Reps In Noncompete Suit, FTC Says

The Federal Trade Commission has asked a Texas federal judge to limit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to representing only named members in its challenge to the agency's pending noncompetes ban, arguing the trade group can't hide behind the First Amendment to represent "millions of undisclosed members."
May 01, 2024
Hotel Chains Hit With Algorithmic Pricing Collusion Suit

A group of hotel-goers has hit six major hotel chains with a proposed class action, alleging that the companies used a shared pricing algorithm to fix and raise hotel prices nationwide.
May 01, 2024
Apple Users Defend Web Apps Antitrust Case

Consumers urged a California federal court not to toss their case accusing Apple of violating antitrust law by preventing iPhones from running web-based apps that don't need to be downloaded, saying Apple used deals with Google and others to protect its dominance.
May 01, 2024
Meta's Privacy Fight With FTC Paused For High Court Ruling

The D.C. Circuit has pressed pause on Meta's bid to block the Federal Trade Commission from pursuing modifications to the parties' $5 billion privacy settlement to await the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in a case challenging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's in-house courts.
May 01, 2024
Fla., NY, DC Join Suit Demanding Halt To NCAA's NIL Policies

Florida, New York and the District of Columbia on Wednesday joined Tennessee and Virginia in their antitrust lawsuit challenging the NCAA's policies on name, image and likeness rights, asking that the preliminary injunction barring enforcement of its NIL rules be made permanent.
May 01, 2024
Top Groups Lobbying The FCC

The Federal Communications Commission heard from advocates well over 200 times in April as they sought to sway the FCC on net neutrality rules, junk calls and texts, bulk billing deals for broadband service in apartment buildings, and many other issues.
May 01, 2024
5th Circ. Judge Skeptical Of Medicare Drug 'Price-Setting'

A Fifth Circuit judge on Wednesday sharply criticized the Biden administration's Medicare drug pricing program, characterizing it as government "price-setting" and questioning "what possible procompetitive justification" there can be for penalizing companies that don't participate.
May 01, 2024
Food Supplier Can't Shake Off $5M DOD Bid-Rigging Claim

A food supplier must face a U.S. Department of Defense agency's efforts to recoup the purported $5 million lost to an ex-employee's bid-rigging scheme, after a contract appeals board ruled the contractor was required to provide fair, unrigged prices.
May 01, 2024
Attys Seek $95M In Fees For Elite Schools' Aid-Fixing Deals

Class counsel representing students who accused 17 top universities of colluding to fix student aid packages have asked an Illinois federal judge to award them $94.7 million in fees plus $3.5 million in expenses for securing $284 million in settlements with 10 schools.
May 01, 2024
CMA Worries DJs Might Pay More If Equipment Makers Merge

The antitrust regulator of the U.K. on Wednesday said that DJ equipment maker AlphaTheta's proposed acquisition of audio technology company Serato could increase costs for DJs in the country to keep partygoers entertained.
April 30, 2024
5th Circ. Nixes Software Co.'s $1.6B Win In IBM Contract Row

The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday reversed a Texas federal court's $1.6 billion ruling against IBM, finding that Houston-based software company BMC lost out to IBM "fair and square" when IBM fulfilled a request by their mutual client AT&T to replace BMC's software in AT&T's mainframe with IBM's.
April 30, 2024
Where VLSI-Intel's High-Stakes Patent Battle Stands Now

Intel has managed to turn the tide on litigation where it had faced the daunting possibility of owing VLSI Technology more than $3 billion for infringing microchip patents, with the tech company winning patent invalidations and a large verdict do-over. Here's a look at where the multifaceted litigation between the companies stands.
April 30, 2024
7th Circ. Backs Costco's Win In Gas Price-Matching Feud

The Seventh Circuit on Tuesday upheld Costco's victory against a dozen Wisconsin gas stations that claimed the warehouse giant sold regular unleaded fuel below a statutory minimum markup price that allegedly caused a decline in revenue, finding no evidence showing that Costco's pricing practices caused the stations a single lost sale.
April 30, 2024
3rd Circ. Preview: Kavanaugh Classmate Takes On HuffPost

The Third Circuit's May lineup will find the court weighing HuffPost's battle with an allegedly libeled former classmate of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and claims by consumers alleging they bought defective Bayer antifungal medicine.
April 30, 2024
FTC Puts $26B Permian Basin Gas Deal Under Scrutiny

The Federal Trade Commission is taking an in-depth look at the proposed oil and gas merger between Diamondback Energy and Endeavor Energy Resources by issuing a second request for additional information about the deal, according to new securities filings.
April 30, 2024
Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

The U.S. Department of Justice pressured the abandonment of a nearly $1 billion insulation deal while the Federal Trade Commission challenged, scrutinized, and battled, deals in the private equity, fashion, grocery, energy and healthcare spaces. Here are some of the major merger review developments from April.
April 30, 2024
Ex-Enforcers Back CoStar At 9th Circ. Against Antitrust Claims

Several former antitrust enforcers told the Ninth Circuit that a lower court was right to toss a rival's claims that CoStar monopolizes commercial real estate information markets despite concerns from the Federal Trade Commission about the allegations.

Expert Analysis

Antitrust And ESG: Maximizing Targets, Ensuring Compliance

Jennifer McAlpin at Verizon and Michaela Spero at Amadeus consider the convergence of antitrust and environmental, social and corporate governance factors, providing an executive overview of areas to watch, including mergers and acquisitions, as well as practical implementation tips for general counsel.
What To Know About FCA Cybersecurity Enforcement

Now is a good time for practitioners, government contractors and potential relators to review recent developments in cybersecurity-related False Claims Act enforcement, and consider best practices for navigating this space in the new year, say Ellen London at London & Stout, and Li Yu and Molly Knobler at DiCello Levitt.
Opinion

Noncompete Report Misinterpreted Critique Of FTC Proposal

A recent report on core questions surrounding the use of employee noncompete agreements published by the Economic Innovation Group misconstrues our stated views on the issue — and we stand behind our conclusion that the Federal Trade Commission made misrepresentations when proposing a rule to ban such provisions nationwide, say Erik Weibust and Stuart Gerson at Epstein Becker.
3 Power Rulings Change Outlook For Transmission Cos.

The cumulative effect of three December power cases that halted state actions that gave preference to incumbent transmission providers could level the playing field for independent developers, say Harvey Reiter and John McCaffrey at Stinson.
4 Legal Ethics Considerations For The New Year

As attorneys and clients reset for a new year, now is a good time to take a step back and review some core ethical issues that attorneys should keep front of mind in 2024, including approaching generative artificial intelligence with caution and care, and avoiding pitfalls in outside counsel guidelines, say attorneys at HWG.
Opinion

Waiving COVID-19 IP Protections Would Harm US Industry

President Joe Biden should turn down a World Trade Organization proposal to waive crucial intellectual property protections behind COVID-19 tests and diagnostics — protections that allow U.S. companies to sustain millions of jobs and develop life-saving treatments that benefit patients in every country, says former U.S. Circuit Judge Paul Michel, now at the Council for Innovation Promotion.
What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like

As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
The Year Ahead In Foreign Investment And National Security

In 2024, expect the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, already at the forefront of addressing national security threats, to increase monitoring and enforcement related to outbound investment, focus on supply chain resilience in nondefense sectors, and heighten oversight of agricultural transactions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
Navigating Class Actions After Papa John's Settlement Denial

A Kentucky federal court's surprising denial of preliminary approval for a $5 million settlement in the Papa John's no-poach case may prove to be an outlier but suggests a class action settlement would only be approved when a plaintiff demonstrates that a litigation class would be certified, say attorneys at Robins Kaplan.
4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News

Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.
The Space Law And Policy Outlook For 2024

Expect significant movement in space law, regulation and policy in 2024, as Congress, the administration and independent federal agencies like the Federal Communications Commission address the increasingly congested, contested and competitive nature of space and the space industry, say Paul Stimers and Leighton Brown at Holland & Knight.
Antitrust Enforcement Initiatives To Watch In 2024

The U.S. Department of Justice is likely to prioritize information-sharing prosecutions in 2024, following last year's withdrawal of safe harbors, as well as labor market enforcement after trial losses forced a pullback in 2023, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends

Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.
The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from associate retention strategies to ethical billing practices.
HHS Advisory Highlights Free Product Inducement Risks

A recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services advisory opinion highlights concerns that valuable free products and other inducements may influence patients and providers to choose one manufacturer’s product over another, notwithstanding that such free healthcare products may be a benefit, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.