On June 23, we hosted a webinar on the failing firm defense, focusing on defining the defense and offering tips on complying with it. We also tried to demonstrate that, sometimes, the antitrust agencies will not demand strict...more
COVID-19 already has had a significant impact on the food industry. Companies at all levels of the food supply chain long have been the focus of antitrust investigations and litigation, partly because there are relatively few...more
BakerHostetler invites you to join us for an upcoming webinar, Federal Trade Commission - Antitrust Investigations - What You Should Know, offering vital insights into antitrust issues and investigations.
Topics:
• The...more
Since at least 2017, when the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued to block a vertical merger, the business press has been atwitter about the antitrust enforcement agencies’ views of such mergers....more
A recent decision by the Third Circuit permits plaintiffs to pursue antitrust damages for egg products supplied by non-conspiring parties. This decision could represent a crack in the “umbrella damages” rule that precludes...more
President Trump’s head of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, Makan Delrahim, recently explained that the division will cut back on behavioral commitments such as consent orders regulating conduct and will instead...more
Back in April, we reviewed several new initiatives within the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) focused on eliminating “wasteful, legacy regulations and processes that have outlived their usefulness,” including “process reforms”...more
In April we reviewed several new initiatives within the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) focused on eliminating “wasteful, legacy regulations and processes that have outlived their usefulness,” in the words of FTC Acting Chair...more
Ten years into litigation, a hospital has moved to decertify a class of plaintiffs who claim the hospital’s merger caused them to overpay for medical services. Arguing there is insufficient proof that class members were...more
Recent years have seen some upheaval in the lower courts on whether classes may be certified when they include members who lack actual injury. So far, however, the Supreme Court has declined to address this issue, thus...more
Earlier this week, the Federal Trade Commission’s Acting Chair, Maureen K. Ohlhausen, announced new and potentially meaningful processes to be implemented by the agency for reviewing and ending some...more
The Federal Trade Commission’s recently announced proposed settlement of its challenge of CentraCare Health’s acquisition of St. Cloud Medical Group (SCMG) is doubly noteworthy. The settlement ends the challenge of a...more
The Second Circuit’s recent post-trial decertification of the class in Mazzei v. The Money Store, et al. has garnered attention about decertification as a defense strategy. The decision confirms that plaintiffs’ burden to...more
After years of academic debate and internal deliberation, the Federal Trade Commission today unveiled a “Statement of Enforcement Principles” that generally describes conduct prohibited by Section 5 of the FTC Act....more
An Oregon federal court recently relied on the so-called umbrella theory of damages to decide that the plaintiffs had an antitrust injury necessary to pursue an injunction. While this decision has garnered attention for...more
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) recently reported its 2013 activities, confirming the continuation of its heightened review and investigation of certain foreign direct investments in U.S....more
FTC Commissioner Joshua Wright, during yesterday’s keynote speech at BakerHostetler’s Section 5 Symposium, announced his plan to call for the FTC Commissioners to vote on three proposed definitions of Section 5’s “unfair...more
2/27/2015
With the complexities inherent in many cross-border transactions – from cultural differences to the growing number of competition authorities demanding paperwork – the last thing one may want to think about is whether to...more
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow’s recent and much publicized unveiling of legislation to expand the CFIUS review process of transactions likely caused businesspeople everywhere to ask: “What’s the CFIUS?”...more
A federal district court recently ruled that claims of “good faith reliance on counsel” were not sufficient to maintain a Capper-Volstead affirmative defense to the antitrust laws – a result that may soon collide with rulings...more
The Eastern District of Texas recently held that patent infringement can constitute anticompetitive conduct for monopolization claims under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, in Retractable Technologies Inc. v. Becton Dickinson &...more
This week, the FTC announced a proposed consent agreement to alter another completed transaction that was too small to be reported under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (“HSR Act”)....more
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee granted final approval of the $158.6 million settlement in the ongoing Southeast Milk Antitrust Litigation lawsuit brought by BakerHostetler’s antitrust lawyers....more
On March 27, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, Case No. 11-864, which provides a valuable tool for the defense in combatting class certification in antitrust cases and other types of class...more