This article is part of a monthly column that considers the significance of recent Federal Trade Commission announcements about antitrust issues. In this installment, we discuss notable takeaways from the agency's recent...more
2/7/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Purchase Agreement
With great promise comes great scrutiny. As artificial intelligence (“AI”) has become part of industries’ and individuals’ daily repertoire, it has also come under focus by antitrust regulators. The DOJ, in its so-called...more
Competition between Amazon’s third-party merchants is notoriously fierce. The online retail giant often finds itself playing the role of referee, banning what it considers unfair business practices (such as offering free...more
It used to be privacy was largely the domain of constitutional law and patient health care law: the Fourth Amendment, and then the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)....more
In 1984, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that courts must defer to an administrative agency’s reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statute. But last year, the Supreme Court stripped the FTC of its ability to seek...more
2/7/2022
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Administrative Agencies ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Review ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Certiorari ,
Competition ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Due Process ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fifth Amendment ,
FTC Act ,
Merger Controls ,
Removal For-Cause ,
SCOTUS ,
Separation of Powers ,
Statutory Interpretation
2021 will be remembered in antitrust law. Not since the 1970s has there been so much chatter over the fundamental purposes of antitrust policy, or such potential for actual sea change.
Originally published in Law360 -...more
1/5/2022
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Consent Decrees ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Reviews ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sherman Act ,
Vertical Mergers ,
Warning Letters
With a rash of changes since Chair Lina Khan took command, the Federal Trade Commission is proving the maxim that the only certainty is uncertainty.
Its new policy of issuing warning letters to deals that have...more
“Mark my words: Change is coming. Laws are coming.” That was the warning David Cicilline (D-RI) – the House Judiciary Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law Subcommittee Chairman – gave on February 25th at the first in...more
The Sherman Act was passed in 1890. The Clayton Act in 1914. And they have hardly changed since. Last month, Senator Amy Klobuchar, the new chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition...more
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic's ravage on industries, markets, and entire economies, businesses are seeking help from the government, whether in the form of a bailout or some regulatory accommodation. Industries...more
"Prophesy is a good line of business, but it is full of risks." Mark Twain could have been speaking about the FTC's recent challenge to a merger between the second- and third-largest sterilization companies in the world,...more