The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint and proposed consent decree alleging that Legends Hospitality Parent Holdings prematurely acquired beneficial ownership – often referred to as “gun jumping” – in connection...more
Over the last eight months, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has focused on what it characterizes as “improper” Orange Book listings and the impacts of such listings on generic entry....more
In a subdued year for global M&A, deal-making in the life sciences industry came in waves, with a busy fourth quarter generating cautious optimism heading into 2024. While the year saw an overall decline in M&A activity (down...more
The Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act thresholds that govern which mergers & acquisitions must be reported to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will increase slightly more than 7% in February...more
As a capstone on the Biden administration’s aggressive 2023 antitrust enforcement, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly issued revised Merger Guidelines before the holidays, replacing the...more
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent letters on November 7, 2023, accusing 10 companies of improperly listing drug delivery device patents in the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Orange Book, stating that the FTC...more
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued a policy statement “to put market participants on notice that the FTC intends to scrutinize improper Orange Book listings” and take “actions against companies and...more
In the wake of major bank failures in the US, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has signaled that it plans to step up antitrust enforcement of bank mergers. In June 2023, the DOJ’s Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust...more
On July 19, 2023, the US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission released draft revised merger guidelines in an effort to support the Biden administration’s aggressive antitrust enforcement agenda....more
On June 27, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a proposal for a radical overhaul to the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) premerger notification program that, if adopted, would dramatically increase costs, burden and...more
The Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act thresholds, which govern when acquisitions must be reported to the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission, will increase slightly more than 10% in February 2023. The minimum...more
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission published a proposed rule that would categorically ban noncompete agreements between employers and a broad class of “workers,” including independent contractors and unpaid...more
1/24/2023
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Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 5 ,
Unfair Competition
On December 29, 2022, President Joe Biden signed a funding bill into law that includes provisions that significantly change the filing fees for mergers & acquisitions notifiable under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act.
For...more
On October 31, the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) delivered on its promise to pursue criminal enforcement of Section 2 of the Sherman Act when it secured a guilty plea from a highway paving...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division secured its first win in a criminal enforcement of labor market antitrust violations on October 27, 2022, when nurse staffing company VDA OC pleaded guilty to violating...more
In April 2022, Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, head of the US Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, fired a warning shot to companies: “For too long, our Section 8 enforcement has essentially been limited to...more
On September 29, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission – alongside a bipartisan coalition of 10 state attorneys general – sued Corteva and Syngenta, challenging “loyalty programs” pursuant to which two of the largest pesticide...more
On May 16, 2022, eight months after President Joe Biden announced his intention to nominate Alvaro Bedoya to serve as a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, Bedoya was sworn in. The FTC includes five commissioners –...more
Nearly a year after the Supreme Court stripped the FTC of its ability to obtain equitable monetary relief under Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA) in AMG Capital Management LLC v. FTC, the Commission...more
The Department of Justice’s first criminal wage-fixing and no-poach cases ended in acquittals, but we don’t expect this will lessen the DOJ’s scrutiny on competition in labor markets....more
On March 2, 2022, Richard Powers, the deputy assistant attorney general of the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice, said that the division is prepared – for the first time in decades – to bring criminal charges...more
On March 2, 2022, Richard Powers, the deputy assistant attorney general of the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice, said that the division is prepared – for the first time in decades – to bring criminal charges...more
To strengthen enforcement, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are undertaking a review of the Horizontal Merger Guidelines, last revised by the Obama administration in 2010, and the...more
Basic ‘size-of-transaction’ threshold now $101 million -
The Hart-Scott-Rodino Act thresholds, which govern when mergers and acquisitions must be reported to the US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission, will...more
On July 9, President Joe Biden issued an executive order on “Promoting Competition in the American Economy.” With 72 initiatives and directives by more than a dozen federal agencies, the order seeks to aggressively “reduce...more