On May 13, 2019, in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the views of the U.S. Solicitor General, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, and the Federal Trade Commission when it kept alive a putative class...more
5/17/2019
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Apple ,
Direct Purchasers ,
Illinois Brick ,
Indirect Purchasers ,
iPhone ,
Mobile Apps ,
Monopolization ,
Price-Fixing ,
State Antitrust Claims ,
The Clayton Act
On April 24, the U.S. Supreme Court issued the latest in its line of recent decisions hostile to class action arbitration. In Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela, the Court stated that merely showing ambiguity in an arbitration clause...more
4/25/2019
/ Ambiguous ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Arbitration ,
Consent ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Jurisdiction ,
Lamps Plus Inc v Varela ,
Motion to Compel ,
Preemption ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS
On July 31, the FTC published its settlement with Therapy Source, LLC; its owner, Sheria Yarbray; and Neeraj Jindal, the former owner of a competing staffing company — Integrity Home Therapy (collectively, the respondents)....more
8/3/2018
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Health Care Providers ,
Home Health Agencies ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Section 5 ,
Settlement ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Wage-Fixing
Arbitration may end sooner and more efficiently than litigation, but it is slower to begin. A courthouse is just sitting there waiting for a complaint to be filed.
Originally published in Alternatives to the High Cost of...more
The short-lived rule will likely be remembered as part of the Trump Administration’s dismantling of the Obama Administration’s legacy, and as continuing the trend of courts strictly enforcing agreements to arbitrate as...more
10/26/2017
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Banking Sector ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Popular ,
Trump Administration
Even in the absence of an agreement to fix compensation, simply exchanging competitively sensitive information could serve as evidence of an implicit illegal agreement.
On October 20, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and...more
11/9/2016
/ Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Job Applicants ,
No-Poaching ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Pre-Employment Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Wage-Fixing
The Second Circuit’s decision highlights that, whenever there are groups of plaintiffs that will obtain different categories of relief as a part of a settlement, both plaintiffs and defense counsel should seriously consider...more
11/9/2016
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Class Action ,
Credit Cards ,
Due Process ,
FRCP 23(b)(2) ,
FRCP 23(b)(3) ,
Interchange Fees ,
MasterCard ,
Merchants ,
Settlement ,
Sherman Act ,
Visa Inc
Antitrust class action price-fixing claims are among the most costly corporate litigation your company or client can face. In many cases, plaintiffs seek to plead and prove the alleged cartel through alleged indirect...more
Companies contemplating mergers should review the effect of the transaction on each customer type, application and product, not just on the broad customer base.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia...more
The court’s decision in FTC v. Steris demonstrates the importance of conducting a thorough antitrust analysis of all aspects of a merger or acquisition from every possible angle, including likely future competition.
On...more
The Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act (FTAIA), 15 U.S.C. § 6a, was enacted to provide greater clarity on the Sherman Antitrust Act’s reach. However, the FTAIA continues to muddy the waters. In a recent decision from...more
While pundits complain about the United States Supreme Court’s diminishing docket, one area of law seems to have increased in popularity with the justices: arbitration law, and in particular the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)....more