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Competition
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April 09, 2024
After Uproar, New MDL Rule Advances With Attys Assuaged
Following years of debate and months of outcry, a judicial panel Tuesday approved the first formal rule aimed at improving efficiency and fairness in the nation's burgeoning realm of multidistrict litigation, earning plaudits from placated lawyers in the defense and plaintiffs bars.
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April 09, 2024
Why IP Attys Are Watching This $2B Trade Secrets Battle
A case of alleged corporate espionage involving two software companies that resulted in a $2 billion verdict has all the hallmarks of a legal thriller, and attorneys are watching the appeal closely to see how it could impact trade secrets litigation.
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April 09, 2024
Nikola Investors' SPAC Fraud Suit Moves Ahead
Board directors of electric truck maker Nikola Corp. and the blank-check company that took it public for $3.3 billion in 2020 must face shareholders' derivative claims of insider trading, securities fraud and merger-related breaches after Delaware's Court of Chancery on Tuesday denied more than half of the defense's motions to dismiss.
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April 09, 2024
StarKist, PE Co. Settle Tuna Price-Fixing Claims For $3.9M
Canned tuna buyers are hoping to settle their long-running price-fixing suit with StarKist and Bumble Bee, asking a California federal judge for preliminary approval of two class action payouts worth a total of $3.87 million.
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April 09, 2024
Real Brokerage $9.2M Settlement Is Latest In Agent Fee Suit
The Real Brokerage Inc. will pay $9.2 million in a settlement to exit a class action in Missouri federal court over broker fees that prompted other big brokerages to change how they charge agent fees.
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April 09, 2024
How Imminent Is 'Imminent,' Judge Asks In Supply Chain Fight
A Colorado federal judge asked an auto parts supplier Tuesday how quickly a Michigan company's alleged violation of an exclusivity deal would have tangible effects, as he considered temporarily stopping the Michigan firm from using other suppliers.
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April 09, 2024
FTC Pressures Global Partners, Gulf Oil Into Reducing Deal
The Federal Trade Commission took credit Tuesday for raising antitrust concerns spurring the late-February reduction of Global Partners LP's purchase of Northeast U.S. gas terminals from Gulf Oil, cut from five terminals with a $273 million price tag to four terminals and a $212.3 million payment.
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April 09, 2024
FIFA Settles Claims Over Foreign League Match Ban
FIFA will consider changing its rule prohibiting soccer matches outside a league's home territories, after settling antitrust claims brought against it by a sports promotion company that challenged the policy in court, a document filed in Manhattan federal court recently showed.
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April 09, 2024
Fragrance Giants Want Out Of 'Threadbare' Price-Fixing Suit
Four international fragrance giants urged a New Jersey federal court to toss a proposed class action accusing them of conspiring to reduce competition in the multibillion-dollar fragrance market, saying plaintiffs are struggling to point to any price-fixing agreement.
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April 09, 2024
Printer Buyers Defend HP Ink Cartridge Antitrust Claims
HP printer buyers told an Illinois federal court they've done enough to show that HP monopolized the market for replacement ink cartridges by alleging the company used firmware updates to lock them into purchasing HP ink cartridges.
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April 09, 2024
Apple To Appeal Funding OK For IPhone Users' £853M Claim
Apple has won permission to appeal a decision to let an £853 million ($1 billion) class action claim go ahead for allegations the tech giant concealed problems with iPhone batteries, despite challenges to the funding arrangements.
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April 08, 2024
Gamers Can't Block Microsoft From 'Dismantling' Activison
A California federal judge on Monday refused to block Microsoft from further integrating Activision Blizzard into its business after it acquired the gaming titan last year, saying the gamers who are still challenging the union between the companies have a similar motion pending before the Ninth Circuit.
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April 08, 2024
ACC Can Keep ESPN Deal Under Wraps In FSU Suit
A North Carolina Business Court judge has allowed the Atlantic Coast Conference to file some contract terms under seal in its fight over whether Florida State University can leave the conference without facing a hefty fine, reasoning that such terms have been considered sealable trade secrets by state courts.
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April 08, 2024
FTC's Slaughter Defends International Cooperation
Several federal agency leaders said Monday they are working across the government to help boost competition, as Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter touted the importance of cooperation on competition issues at home and abroad.
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April 08, 2024
La. Drug Caps Conflict With Federal Law, AbbVie Says
Drugmaker AbbVie is asking a Louisiana federal judge to grant its summary judgment motion and block new state-level pharmaceutical caps for the federal 340B drug discount program, calling the state's competing summary judgment motion arguments "legally and factually wrong."
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April 08, 2024
Consumers Fight Amazon's E-Book Appeal Ask
Amazon shouldn't get to go to the Second Circuit after a federal judge refused to toss a proposed class action accusing the e-commerce giant of monopolizing the e-book market, according to consumers who have urged that judge not to seek another opinion on whether they lack standing.
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April 08, 2024
Judge Urged To Reject UnitedHealth's Antitrust Deal Qualms
Patients who cut a $55 million antitrust settlement with NorthShore University HealthSystem are urging an Illinois federal court to reject objections by United Healthcare Services, arguing that the insurer has no standing to derail the deal and that its challenge to the agreement could dilute their recovery.
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April 08, 2024
PE Firm Calls FTC's Antitrust Claims 'Many Yesterdays' Old
A Texas anesthesiology company and the private equity firm that created it told a Houston federal judge Monday that the Federal Trade Commission has gone back "many yesterdays ago" in making its antitrust case, arguing that there's no imminent threat of a monopoly in an attempt to get the case dismissed.
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April 08, 2024
Farmers Want USDA Barred From 'Discriminatory' Aid Choices
A group of Texas farmers asked a federal judge to bar the U.S. Department of Agriculture from prioritizing minority groups as a part of a distribution scheme for the agency's disaster assistance and pandemic relief programs, saying the programs continue to cause harm to them and the public.
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April 08, 2024
Hormel Settling Pork Price-Fixing Claims For Over $11M
Three plaintiff classes in the ongoing pork price-fixing litigation against Hormel Foods have reached preliminary settlements worth over $11 million with the company and are now asking the Minnesota federal judge overseeing the case to grant them initial approval.
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April 08, 2024
Atlantic City Hotels Say Gov't Backing Can't Save Pricing Suit
Atlantic City casino-hotels continue to push a New Jersey federal judge to toss room rate price-fixing allegations they say get no help from a U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission intervening brief that argued algorithmic collusion is just as liable under antitrust law.
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April 08, 2024
FTC Defends In-House Judges' Role In H&R Block Case
H&R Block wrongly claimed that the Federal Trade Commission's administrative law judges should be disqualified from overseeing an administrative proceeding accusing the tax preparation company of deceptive advertising, FTC lawyers told the agency, arguing the judges don't have illegal job protections.
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April 08, 2024
Jackson Hewitt Preparers Want First OK On $10.8M Deal
Former Jackson Hewitt Inc. workers have reached a $10.8 million settlement with their former employer over claims the company's franchisees entered into an anti-competitive no-poach agreement despite the provision being removed from the company's franchise agreements, according to a Friday motion.
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April 08, 2024
Schumer Seeks More Data, Details About Capital One Deal
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday that he has requested more information about Capital One and Discover Financial Services' planned $35.3 billion merger, including data on the interest rates they charge and details about any potential layoffs that could stem from the deal.
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April 08, 2024
Honigman Hires Polsinelli Antitrust Pro As Practice Co-Leader
Honigman LLP has hired a 10-year veteran of Polsinelli PC, who joins the firm's Washington, D.C., office to help co-lead its antitrust and trade regulation practice, Honigman announced Monday.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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Attorneys' Busiest Times Can Be Business Opportunities
Attorneys who resolve to grow their revenue and client base in 2024 should be careful not to abandon their goals when they get too busy with client work, because these periods of zero bandwidth can actually be a catalyst for future growth, says Amy Drysdale at Alchemy Consulting.
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In The World Of Legal Ethics, 10 Trends To Note From 2023
Lucian Pera at Adams and Reese and Trisha Rich at Holland & Knight identify the top legal ethics trends from 2023 — including issues related to hot documents, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity — that lawyers should be aware of to put their best foot forward.
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Opinion
Why Challenges To FTC Authority Are Needed
In spite of skepticism from courts, the Federal Trade Commission continues to advance novel legal theories — and Meta's recent federal suit against the agency over its alleged "structurally unconstitutional" administrative proceedings is arguably an expression of backlash to regulatory overreach, says Daniel Gilman at the International Center for Law & Economics.
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The Year In FRAND: What To Know Heading Into 2024
In 2023, there were eight significant developments concerning the fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory patent licensing regime that undergirds technical standardization, say Tom Millikan and Kevin Zeck at Perkins Coie.
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Volume-Based Transaction Pricing Proposal Raises Questions
A rule recently proposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which would prohibit securities exchanges from offering volume-based transaction pricing for agency or riskless principal orders in certain stocks, is meant to address competitive concerns — but there are reasons to question the logic behind this proposal, say attorneys at Sidley.
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NCAA Proposal Points To A New NIL Compensation Frontier
Although NCAA President Charlie Baker's recent proposal for Division I institutions to pay student-athletes for name, image and likeness licensing deals is unlikely to pass in its current form, it shows that direct compensation for student-athletes is a looming reality — and member institutions should begin preparing in earnest, say attorneys at Pillsbury.
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Fed's New Swipe At Debit Fees Stirs Up Dilemma For Banks
The Federal Reserve's proposal to reduce the cap on debit card interchange fees charged or received by card issuers and payment networks comes as other bank account fees are taking regulatory hits, which could all culminate in an overall decline in access to banking products and services, says Kristen Larson at Ballard Spahr.
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Behind Antitrust Enforcers' 2023 Labor And Employment Push
This year, the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission stepped up their already-considerable efforts to expand antitrust enforcement to labor and employment, a trend that is likely to continue into next year, say Benjamin Dryden and Richard Flannery at Foley & Lardner.
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How Attorneys Can Be More Efficient This Holiday Season
Attorneys should consider a few key tips to speed up their work during the holidays so they can join the festivities — from streamlining the document review process to creating similar folder structures, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Exploring Middle-Market M&A Trends In 2023 And Beyond
Middle-market merger and acquisition activity this year was affected by a number of economic, legal and regulatory shifts, with certain trends pointing to favorable transaction conditions in 2024, say Jason Brauser and William Goodling at Stoel Rives.
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Series
Children's Book Writing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Becoming a children's book author has opened doors to incredible new experiences of which I barely dared to dream, but the process has also changed my life by serving as a reminder that strong writing, networking and public speaking skills are hugely beneficial to a legal career, says Shaunna Bailey at Sheppard Mullin.
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Parsing 2023's Energy Markets Enforcement
A review of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's and Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recently released fiscal year 2023 enforcement reports highlight the significant energy market enforcement activities, litigation pursued and settlements reached by both agencies, as well as their respective strategic goals and focus areas, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Hoopers In NCAA Suit Respark Eligibility Framework Debate
A decision by two brothers involved in a recent antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA — to play college basketball rather than go professional after graduating from the Overtime Elite league — has aimed the spotlight on what exactly the NCAA deems permissible compensation under its current framework, say Brady Foster and Dan Lust at Moritt Hock.
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Lessons From DOJ's Wave Of Labor Market Prosecutions
Attorneys at Patterson Belknap consider lessons learned and future meaningful challenges following the U.S. Department of Justice's first six criminal antitrust cases targeting employee no-poach and wage-fixing agreements, in which just one case resulted in a guilty plea.