Latest Publications

Share:

Recent Decisions in Noncompete Cases Expose Deep Divides in Opposing Visions for Antitrust Enforcement

On July 3, 2024, plaintiffs in Ryan LLC v. Federal Trade Commission won their first significant victory in their noncompete case against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) when Judge Ada Brown of the Northern District of...more

History in the Making: Conservatives Work Quickly to Challenge FTC’s Final Rule Banning Noncompete Agreements

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted in favor of its controversial final rule banning nationwide nearly all noncompete agreements. While the potential noncompete ban has been politically controversial since it...more

Biden Administration Announces New Initiative to Challenge Unfair and Illegal Pricing Practices

On March 5, 2024, the Biden administration announced the launch of a “strike force” aimed at cracking down on unfair and illegal pricing practices. The strike force is one in a series of three new actions announced by...more

DOJ, FTC Issue Guidance Regarding Preservation of Employees’ Chat Messages for Merger Investigations, Subpoenas and CIDs

On January 26, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced updated guidance relating to parties’ obligations to preserve communications generated on ephemeral messaging platforms, such...more

New HSR Act Size-of-Transaction Increasing to $119.5 Million; Filing Fee Increases Going Into Effect Soon

On January 22, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its adjusted reporting thresholds under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (HSR Act). The FTC revises the HSR Act thresholds...more

DOJ Continues “Vibrant Section 8 Enforcement” to Purge Companies of Potentially Anticompetitive Interlocking Directorates

In March 2023, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (DOJ) announced that five additional directors have resigned from four corporate boards in response to the DOJ’s efforts to enforce prohibitions against so-called...more

Federal Antitrust Agencies Ramp Up Hiring Efforts and Request Additional Funding to Support Aggressive Enforcement Agendas

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have made no secret of their intentions to revamp antitrust enforcement and merger control efforts across wide swaths of the U.S. economy to curtail what...more

Members of Congress Continue to Press DOJ on Health and Dental Insurance Antitrust Enforcement

Congressional leaders continue to seek information from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) concerning the DOJ’s efforts to enforce the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act (CHIRA), which partially repealed the...more

With a Full Slate of Commissioners, the FTC Is Poised to Tackle the Chair’s Ambitious Antitrust Enforcement Agenda

With the May 16, 2022, confirmation of Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya, the Federal Trade Commission finally has a 3–2 Democratic majority and can move forward with Chair Lina Khan’s ambitious agenda. The Commission majority...more

DOJ Remains Committed to Aggressive Antitrust Enforcement Against Employers and Their Employees Even in the Wake of Recent Trial...

The Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) recently suffered significant losses in two criminal trials involving alleged criminal wage-fixing and related “no-poach” agreements by and between competitors. These were...more

DOJ Antitrust Chief Previews Additional Antitrust Scrutiny for Interlocking Directorates

During the recent Spring 2022 Enforcers Summit, Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division chief, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter, announced that interlocking directorates will face increased...more

DOJ Encourages State Court to Consider Antitrust Principles to Invalidate Non-Compete Agreements

Non-compete agreements between employers and their employees traditionally are governed by state law. But that did not stop the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) from recently filing a statement of...more

FTC Publishes Revised HSR Thresholds for 2022

On January 24, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its adjusted reporting thresholds under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (HSR Act) in the Federal Register. The FTC revises...more

DOJ’s Concerns on Board Appointments Are Reminder of Importance of Interlocking Directorate Compliance

The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) recently announced that two top executives of a talent and media agency resigned their positions on the board of directors for a competing business. They did so after...more

Biden Administration Orders Increased Antitrust Scrutiny in Food and Agriculture Sectors

On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy (Order), a wide-ranging edict intended to promote competition in numerous sectors of the economy through 72 specific...more

Indiana Court of Appeals Rejects Gamesmanship by Defendant in Summary Judgment Briefing

The Indiana Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion in In re the Matter of the Estate of Dean C. Krieger, reversing summary judgment dismissal of a will contest. The appellate court found that the opposing party presented...more

Groundbreaking Fourth Circuit Decision Upholds Private Plaintiff’s Successful Effort to Unwind a Consummated Merger

Federal antitrust enforcers have long succeeded at unwinding consummated mergers. By contrast, private antitrust plaintiffs have not successfully forced companies to break up a completed acquisition. Until now. On February...more

New Amendment to McCarran-Ferguson Act Repeals Important Antitrust Exemption for Health and Dental Insurance Companies

Just before leaving office, former President Trump signed the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act (CHIRA) on January 13, 2021. Among other things, CHIRA amends the McCarran-Ferguson Act to repeal the federal antitrust...more

FTC and DOJ Suspend Early Termination Option for Hart-Scott-Rodino Filings; FTC Decreases Thresholds for Interlocking Directorates...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a new temporary suspension of grants of early termination for Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) waiting periods, effective February 4, 2021, while the FTC and the Department of Justice...more

New Antitrust Whistleblower Statute May Enhance Criminal Enforcement Efforts

Former President Trump signed into law the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act of 2019 on December 23, 2020. The law prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who provide information to a superior, to a...more

FTC Publishes Decreased Hart-Scott-Rodino Thresholds for 2021

On February 2, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its adjusted reporting thresholds under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR Act) in the Federal Register. The revised thresholds,...more

Congress Passes Amendment to McCarran-Ferguson Act to Repeal Important Antitrust Exemption for Health Insurance Companies

While the bill discussed in this alert was passed by Congress on December 22, 2020, it was not enacted by the end of its Congressional session. It is possible this bill has been signed, but Congress has not yet been notified....more

DOJ Provides Further Guidance to Competitor Collaborations in Second Business Review Letter

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) committed to providing the DOJ’s Business Review Letters (BRLs) and the FTC’s Advisory Opinions (AOs) on an...more

Federal Antitrust Authorities Issue Warning Against Employer Collusion to Disadvantage Essential Service Workers

On April 13, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, the agencies) issued their Joint Antitrust Statement Regarding COVID-19 and Competition In Labor Markets (Joint...more

New DOJ Business Review Letter Provides Guidance to Competitor Collaborations in Wake of Global Pandemic

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) committed to providing the DOJ’s Business Review Letters (BRLs) and the FTC’s Advisory Opinions (AOs) on an...more

40 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 2

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide