Commercial transactions often involve parties from different states. When a dispute arises between diverse parties, the question of whether a party can obtain personal jurisdiction over a defendant becomes critical. This...more
Last year Bayer announced a plan to settle lawsuits alleging injury due to exposure to Roundup™. Lawsuits alleging injuries related to pesticide exposure, such as the lawsuits involving Roundup™, are not new, and they are...more
PE-backed Inspire Brands is in negotiations to take over Dunkin’ Brands Group, the parent of both Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins, in a deal valued at nearly $9 billion. Inspire includes Buffalo Wild Wings and Jimmy John’s among...more
In hotly anticipated comments on Thursday—and yes, such a designation applies to a speech on monetary policy—Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell “announced a major shift in how the central bank guides the economy, signaling it...more
A state appeals court in California has preempted Uber and Lyft’s threatened state-wide shutdown over a new state law ordering them to reclassify their drivers as employees by “allowing them to continue operating [under their...more
What happens when an international research agency decides that the most widely used herbicide in the world may cause cancer? Well, it depends. Are you asking a judge? Or jurors?...more
Leave it to corporations, even with the pressure of the civil justice system, to figure billions of ways to never say they are sorry — and to leave consumers hanging about problematic products and practices....more
Bayer, the German parent company of Monsanto, will pay more than $10 billion to resolve “tens of thousands of claims in the United States that its popular weedkiller Roundup causes cancer.” The settlement covers an estimated...more
Although Covid-19 is disastrous for people around the globe, Big Pharma is finding advantage in the infection: Bayer, a pharmaceutical and agricultural products’ giant, is on the brink of what would be an $8 billion-plus...more
Unable to reach a last-minute deal with investors, rental car mainstay Hertz filed for bankruptcy late Friday night, doing so “without a clear plan with creditors in place—a rare move for a company of its size.” Though, like...more
DUSTING SPRAY DEATHS AND INJURIES - Robins Kaplan LLP is investigating and litigating “dusting” cases, which arise when someone inhales—or “huffs”—compressed gas dusting spray for its intoxicating effects while driving and...more
Apple announced that the coronavirus outbreak that’s brought Chinese manufacturing to a near-standstill and continues to spread around the world will affect its quarterly sales expectations. The news makes Apple “one of the...more
While there’s plenty of other business afoot in D.C. these days, it also happens to have been a pretty big week for trade deals. A day after Phase One with China was inked, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a revised...more
A ruling this morning from South Korea’s top court means that Samsung’s de facto leader, its vice chair and chaebol heir Lee Jae-yong, could be heading back behind bars. The high court found that a lower appeals court “had...more
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is the latest prominent government official to express concerns about Facebook’s coming Libra launch. Speaking at a briefing yesterday, Mnuchin focused on national security issues related to...more
That massive thud? That would be the other shoe dropping in the form of Chinese counter tariffs on another $60 billion in US goods in response to the White House’s trade moves last week....more
On March 13, 2018, China’s Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”)announced its Conditional Approval following antitrust review of a concentration of undertakings relating to Bayer’s proposed merger with Monsanto (“Merger”) (Bayer...more
Carlos Ghosn, the onetime “savior” of Nissan, faced another indignity while again behind bars in Japan—the automaker officially removed the former chair from the board altogether....more
The US and China have scheduled two more rounds of high-level trade talks with hopes for an agreement between the economic superpowers by late April, even as China has begun to push back against some of the US’s major...more
Fast Facts - The numbers of significant antitrust merger investigations in the U.S. and the EU both are on pace to match 2017 levels. - Bayer/Monsanto was resolved after a more than 24-month investigation in the U.S., the...more
Since May of 2016, Bayer and Monsanto have been working on a deal to combine the two giants. Based on a report released by the Wall Street Journal on Monday, April 9, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice has just given its...more
Fast Facts - There are signs that the six-year trend toward longer significant investigations may be slowing or reversing. - Significant U.S. merger investigations lasted an average of 9.7 months in Q1 2018, the second...more
The Journal reported yesterday that the DOJ will allow Bayer to move forward with its plans to acquire Monsanto, a deal valued at more than $60 billion, after the companies “pledged to sell off additional assets to secure...more
The European Union (“EU”) recently concluded its investigation of the Bayer Monsanto transaction. As part of the remedy, Bayer has agreed to license to BASF its “entire global digital agriculture product portfolio and...more
The European Commission has routinely considered potential harm to innovation as part of its merger assessments, particularly in R&D driven sectors such as pharmaceuticals and technology. In recent years, however, the...more