Now, more than ever, health care organizations are facing complex antitrust issues as their mergers/acquisitions, hiring, contracting and private funding are being scrutinized by the federal and state governments. Proper...more
The Background: The Australian Federal Treasurer recently announced sweeping reforms to Australia's merger review regime. These reforms will overhaul the current merger review regime in Australia to introduce mandatory filing...more
The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division continues its aggressive pursuit of enforcement and recently succeeded in blocking a controversial acquisition in the book selling market. After a string of losses in the merger...more
On November 2, 2021, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block the planned $2.175 billion merger between powerhouse publishing companies...more
The Justice Department filed a complaint in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to block Penguin Random House’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster. Penguin Random House is the largest book publisher in the world...more
Recent Merger Review and Litigation in Australia - Australia's antitrust merger laws have remained largely unchanged since 1993. The law prohibits the acquisition of assets or shares with the effect or likely effect of...more
Australia's competition authority settles allegations that port operator misused its market power. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ("ACCC") secured a declaration in its first action under Section 46 of the...more
Fortnite game maker Epic Games brings dispute with Apple to Australia, alleging "misuse of market power." Epic Games, developer of the popular game Fortnite, filed proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia alleging...more
On October 7, 2020, FERC affirmed its prior determination that certain demand response resources participating in the New York Independent System Operator, Inc. (“NYISO”) capacity markets—termed Special Case Resources...more
In parallel to a public consultation to seek feedback from the public regarding the New Competition Tool, the European Commission (Commission) is consulting on a proposal for an ex ante regulatory instrument that would ensure...more
When one thinks of technological advances that have forced antitrust lawyers to think about market definition differently, Amazon’s rise to power is perhaps the most obvious example. For years, the behemoth company and its...more
The terms of a settlement that resolved antitrust litigation between the State of California and Sutter Health, the largest health system in Northern California, have now become public, almost two months after the settlement...more
Germany is about to implement an ambitious new “digital antitrust law” (“GWB-Digitalisierungsgesetz”) to effectively regulate online markets. The draft Ministerial bill on the 10th amendment of the German Act Against...more
Six months after the amendment to the Economic Competition Law took effect, the Competition Authority published its position regarding the circumstances in which even an entity with less than a 50% market share may be deemed...more
On 18 October 2017, Australia's Parliament passed into law long-awaited legislation to amend Australia's competition laws. The passing of the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Competition Policy Review) Bill 2017 and...more
The existing EU regulatory framework for electronic communications obliges the EU Member States to provide in their national laws for certain powers and responsibilities of national regulatory authorities (“NRA”), in...more
On November 28, 2016, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) (together, the “Agencies”) submitted comments on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (the “Commission” or “FERC”)...more
McDermott’s Managing the Transition to Transformation series is designed to help health systems and other health care industry leaders address the many challenges presented by the transformation in payment and care delivery...more
On September 22, 2016, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) seeking comment on whether and, if so, how FERC might modify or enhance its methods for identifying and assessing market...more
In recent years, federal antitrust enforcers and businesses that accept payment cards have been waging a slow war against payment card fees and the card network rules that protect them. The payment card industry’s antitrust...more
The Vulnerability of Healthcare Information - According to a report the Brookings Institute issued in May 2016, 23% of all data breaches occur in the healthcare industry. Nearly 90% of healthcare organizations had some...more
There was a time not long ago when the odds of beating the Federal Trade Commission on a hospital merger antitrust challenge were slim. Two recent defeats, however, may change that some. Late last year, the FTC, in quick...more
Recent federal court opinions dismissing cases under Rule 12(b)(6) may provide an early off-ramp for antitrust defendants where a roadblock has often existed. Courts are increasingly dismissing cases at the 12(b)(6) stage for...more
On January 12, 2016, Judge Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York dismissed a lawsuit against JP Morgan which alleged the bank (and some of its subsidiaries) monopolized silver futures spread trading in late 2010 and...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an order on October 15, 2015 in which it addressed the first fully-litigated proceeding where a natural gas storage provider sought authorization to charge market-based rates....more