On January 29, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Antitrust Division, in partnership with the U.S. Postal Service (“USPS”), announced the first-ever payment under the Antitrust Division’s Whistleblower Rewards...more
2/20/2026
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bid Rigging ,
Compliance ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
On January 8, 2026, a decisive jurisdictional victory was secured for Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd. (“Wanhua China”) in the long-running In re Diisocyanates Antitrust Litigation, a multidistrict litigation pending before...more
2/13/2026
/ Agency Relationship ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Complex Litigation ,
Cross-Border ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Discovery ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
International Jurisdiction ,
Jurisdiction ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
Parent Corporation ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
Piercing the Corporate Veil
The President influences antitrust enforcement in a variety of ways, including by appointing the leaders of Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”)....more
1/16/2026
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Big Tech ,
Chemicals ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Reviews ,
Sherman Act ,
Trump Administration
Knock, knock…
When the DOJ comes calling, what happens next? Partner Craig Seebald explains day one of a criminal antitrust investigation — from surprise “knock-and-talks” to what companies and counsel should be prepared for...more
The word “cartel” conjures images of mobster movies, lurid headlines, and drug busts. But a less exotic brand of cartel can be far more relevant to the business world. In an economic sense, a cartel is simply a collection of...more
9/25/2025
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Cartels ,
CID ,
Collusion ,
Competition ,
Criminal Antitrust Litigation ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Government Investigations ,
Grand Juries ,
Price-Fixing ,
Sherman Act ,
The Clayton Act ,
Unfair Competition ,
Whistleblowers
At a recent Practising Law Institute (PLI) webinar on antitrust, over 250 legal professionals joined to hear from three antitrust leaders: Nicole Castle, Zach Terwilliger, and Craig Seebald. In this Q&A, they explore what’s...more
6/24/2025
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Compliance ,
Dawn Raids ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Agencies ,
Risk Management
The re-election of former President Donald J. Trump is poised to significantly alter the landscape of antitrust enforcement, particularly within the energy and chemical industries. While the incoming administration has yet to...more
1/16/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Bid Rigging ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Emergency Response ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization ,
Natural Disasters ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Oil & Gas ,
Presidential Appointments ,
Renewable Energy ,
Statutory Authority ,
Trump Administration
Antitrust issues have cut deeply into the corporate landscape, and this year is shaping up for more of the same. Generative artificial intelligence, merger enforcement, and trial risks stand out as three of the most important...more
7/24/2024
/ Algorithms ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Competition ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Machine Learning ,
Mergers ,
Risk Mitigation
It is one of the hardest questions a company can face: after discovering criminal conduct inside your company, do you self-report to the government or not? The reality is that when faced with the question of self-reporting,...more
For companies in the energy and chemical sectors, the potential for antitrust scrutiny is an ever-present concern. The next round of enforcement inquiries is never further away than the next jump in commodity prices or the...more
1/15/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Collusion ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Divestiture ,
Energy Commissions ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Mergers ,
Oversight Committee ,
Private Equity
It is one of the hardest questions a company can face: after discovering criminal conduct inside your company, do you self-report to the government or not? If you can quickly and quietly fix the problem, then you may be able...more
10/13/2023
/ Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Incentives ,
Internal Investigations ,
Safe Harbors ,
Self-Reporting ,
White Collar Crimes
An important federal appeals court has clarified a key principle of antitrust law in a way that potentially makes it more difficult for an employer to win a motion to dismiss, and thereby avoid expensive discovery, with...more
On April 28, 2023, U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden issued the latest blow to the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) efforts to criminally prosecute individuals who engage in “no-poach” agreements by granting the defendants’...more
Sharing competitively sensitive information can carry antitrust risks in certain situations. Recently, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice indicated that it will take an increased interest in challenging...more
2/24/2023
/ Algorithms ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Healthcare ,
Information Sharing ,
Machine Learning ,
OIG ,
Sherman Act ,
The Clayton Act
Just days after securing its first Section 2 conviction in over 40 years in United States v. Zito on October 31, 2022,1 the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) again wielded its once-neglected ability to criminally enforce...more
On October 31, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) announced that the president of a Montana paving and asphalt contractor, Nathan Nephi Zito, had pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to...more
In a pair of unanimous decisions, the Federal Trade Commission this week issued consent orders resolving challenges to two acquisitions. Both enforcement actions focus on top priorities of the Biden antitrust enforcers...more
In the span of 24 hours, two closely-watched federal jury trials both ended in defeat last week for the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (“the Division”). The trials were considered bellwethers in gauging how the...more
On April 4, 2022, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Antitrust Division (the “Division”) announced important policy and practice changes to its leniency program (the “Leniency Program”) — the first substantive changes to the...more
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently signaled a possible shift in its antitrust merger review and remedies practice, moving away from a willingness to allow transactions to proceed through a divesture process....more
Antitrust activity increased significantly in 2021. This past year brought numerous changes in merger and non-merger enforcement policies and priorities that signal increased scrutiny in industry transactions. The “Biden...more
1/19/2022
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
AMG Capital Management LLC v FTC ,
Antitrust Division ,
Big Tech ,
Chemicals ,
Competition ,
Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act of 2015 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Joe Biden ,
Market Manipulation ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
No-Poaching ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
Pipelines ,
Price Inflation ,
Procurement Collusion Strike Force ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SCOTUS ,
Transparency ,
Vertical Mergers ,
Warning Letters
On December 2, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it had filed an administrative complaint (the “Complaint”) to block Nvidia Corp.’s (“Nvidia”) $40 billion acquisition of U.K. chip design provider Arm...more
This Cartel primer, full document linked below, brings together our knowledge of cartel cases and distills it in an easily digestible and practical format. It discusses challenges targets face in responding to cartel...more
12/8/2021
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Burden of Proof ,
Cartels ,
Civil Investigation Demand ,
Compelled Testimony ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discovery ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Grand Juries ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Investigations ,
Monopolization ,
Raids ,
Sherman Act ,
The Clayton Act ,
Whistleblowers
On September 10, the newly-formed White House Competition Council (the “Council” or “Competition Council”) held its inaugural meeting, bringing together eight cabinet members and the leaders of seven independent agencies, to...more
9/30/2021
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Drug Pricing ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Monopolization ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Unfair Competition
For many federal government contractors, their skilled and experienced workforce may be their most valuable asset. A recent “ice breaker” settlement of a class action lawsuit, however, demonstrates the wrong way to protect...more
9/23/2021
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
No-Hire/No-Solicitation Agreements ,
No-Poaching