Antitrust & Trade Regulation, Labor & Employment Law

Franchising Newsletter – April 2013

by Kathy Dalton, Murray Deakin, Sam Jackson, J. Michael Keyes, Michaela Moloney, Sylvia Ng, Chris Nikou, Anna Trist | K&L Gates LLP on 5/2/2013

Overview - There have been several franchising developments since our last update in February. This edition discusses: - minimising the risks when marketing through social media - comments from...more

Advertising Law -- Apr 18, 2013

by Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP on 4/18/2013

In This Issue: No Rest for the NAD, As it Decides Multiple Mattress Disputes; Fur Sure? Retailers Make Faux Faux Fur Claims; Got Settlement? Muscle Milk Suit Settles for $5.3 Million; TCPA Class Actions Prohibited in New...more

View From Proskauer: U.S. Supreme Court Provides Defendants With More Ammunition for Defeating Class Certification by Requiring...

by Jacklina Len | Proskauer - ERISA Practice Center on 4/16/2013

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 2013 WL 1222646 (U.S. Mar. 27, 2013) that, in order to obtain class certification, plaintiffs carry the burden of establishing not only that they have proof...more

U.S. Supreme Court Emphasizes Importance of Common Issues in Class Actions

by Mira Serrill-Robins | Proskauer - California Employment Law on 4/10/2013

Over the past two weeks, the United States Supreme Court has repeatedly underscored the importance of having common questions that are susceptible to common answers in cases where plaintiffs are seeking class certification....more

Did You Know…A Sea Change In Class Action Certification

by Veronica Gray | Nossaman LLP on 4/9/2013

In Comcast v. Behrend, a class action case involving how much Comcast charged cable TV subscribers, the United States Supreme Court held that as a prerequisite for certification of a class action, a plaintiff must introduce...more

Big Developments in Class Actions Part 1: a “rigorous analysis” of Comcast Corp. v. Behrend

by Adam Dougherty | Winstead PC on 4/9/2013

In a very pro-employer/business opinion crafted by Justice Scalia, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected class certification for 2 million Comcast subscribers in an antitrust class action in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 516 U.S. ___...more

Plaintiffs' Bar is Whistling Past the Graveyard on Comcast

by Thomas R. Kaufman | Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 4/3/2013

As many readers of this blog know by now, last week the Supreme Court issued yet another anti-class certification decision in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend (“Comcast”). While the full scope and meaning of the Court’s holding is...more

Class Action Alert: Recent Developments Favorable for Employers

by Bradford G. Harvey, Jennifer W. Terry | Miller & Martin PLLC on 4/2/2013

Individualized Proof of Damages Can Block Class Certification Under Rule 23(b)(3) - The United States Supreme Court in Comcast v. Behrend continued its trend of disfavoring class certification of cases involving...more

Comcast Corp. v. Behrend: Courts Must Assess Merits of Plaintiffs’ Damages Evidence at Class Certification

by Jacob Harper, Rebekah Kaufman | Morrison & Foerster LLP on 3/29/2013

Yesterday, in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 569 U.S. __ (2013), the Supreme Court answered a looming class certification question left open by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 564 U.S. __ (2011): whether a putative class action...more

Supreme Court Raises The Bar For Class Actions

by Fisher & Phillips LLP on 3/28/2013

Today the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a pivotal decision, holding that as a prerequisite for certification of a class action, a plaintiff must introduce admissible evidence to show that the case is susceptible to awarding...more

The Unique Culture of a Start-Up

by Ed Petry, PHD | NAVEX Global on 3/7/2013

Keith Rabois, COO of Square, left his job last month, citing legal threats from a young colleague with whom he had a two-year relationship, which subsequently threw a spotlight on the risks associated with the freewheeling...more

Protecting Your Closely Held Business

by Peter C. Vilmos | Burr & Forman on 3/6/2013

A client recently came to me with a problem lawyers often hear: the client’s family-owned business needed to hire new employees to keep up with the growth. In particular, the company needed additional sales force and...more

McAfee & Taft tIP Sheet - March 2013

by Rachel Blue, Jessica John Bowman, Zach Oubre | McAfee & Taft on 3/5/2013

In This Issue: - 3 Monitoring employees’ use of company trademarks in social media - 5 Keys to ensuring the secrecy of trade secrets - 6 FTC amends Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule - Excerpt from...more

The Antitrust Implications of Non-Compete Agreements

by Andrew Bigart, Robert P. Davis, Lisa Jose Fales | Venable LLP on 3/4/2013

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recent settlement in In the Matter of Oltrin prohibiting use of a geographic non-compete by two companies in the bulk bleach industry is a reminder that the antitrust agencies look closely...more

Unfiltered Orange | Weekly eDiscovery News Update – February 27, 2013

by Rob Robinson on 2/27/2013

Recognized nationally in Forbes’ Law and Technology Blog as a leading source of trusted eDiscovery information, Orange Legal Technologies’ Unfiltered Orange newsletter is published weekly to provide legal and technology...more

Class Actions in Canada 2012 - The Year in Review and The Year Ahead

by Deborah Glendinning, Christopher Naudie, Éric Préfontaine | Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP on 1/30/2013

In This Issue: Introduction; Class Action Practice Developments; Common Issues Trials; Class Actions in Quebec; Securities Class Actions; Competition Class Actions; Product Liability Class Actions; Franchise Class...more

Jury Verdict Highlights Dangers of Destroying Evidence

by Kenneth Vanko | Clingen Callow & McLean, LLC on 1/30/2013

Those of us practicing unfair competition law often find ourselves in a unique spot. When we counsel clients - really, departing employees - we can help shape the facts of a potential lawsuit. Imagine for a second you're a...more

EBay Moves to Dismiss DOJ Antitrust Complaint

by Kenneth Vanko | Clingen Callow & McLean, LLC on 1/25/2013

Last November, I posted about the Department of Justice suit against eBay for its alleged illegal hiring pact with Intuit. The DOJ contended that the eBay-Intuit agreement not to poach each other's employees violated both the...more

Mobile App Disclaimers Not Sufficient to Circumvent FCRA Requirements

by Karen H Bromberg | Cohen & Gresser LLP on 1/18/2013

The Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement last week with a mobile app company, its data provider, and their CEO in its first Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) enforcement action involving mobile applications. The...more

DOJ Antitrust Division Continues To Pursue Employers Engaged in Efforts to Restrict Employee Job Change

by James M. Burns, Adam Wenner | Dickinson Wright on 1/10/2013

On November 16, the DOJ Antitrust Division filed an antitrust action against eBay, alleging that "[s]enior executives at eBay and Intuit entered into an evolving ‘handshake’ agreement . . . [that] prohibited either company...more

Avoiding Anti-competitive Employee Recruitment Arrangements: The United States Department of Justice Challenges eBay and the...

by Subrata Bhattacharjee, Adam S. Goodman | Heenan Blaikie LLP on 12/21/2012

In 2010, the government of Canada amended the Competition Act, making anti-competitive conspiracies between competitors or potential competitors a per se criminal offence, requiring no evidence of an adverse impact on...more