On October 16, 2025, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed Senate Bill S7882 into law, adding Section 340‑b to the New York General Business Law. The new provision prohibits residential rental property owners or managers from...more
10/22/2025
/ Algorithms ,
Anticompetitive Agreements ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Collusion ,
New Legislation ,
New York ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Price-Fixing ,
Property Owners ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Residential Property Owners ,
Residential Real Estate Market ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
On October 06, 2025, California enacted two significant antitrust statutes designed to enhance public and private enforcement of the state’s antitrust law, the Cartwright Act. SB 763 substantially increases criminal fines for...more
10/15/2025
/ Algorithms ,
Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
California ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
New Legislation ,
Penalties ,
Pleading Standards ,
State Attorneys General
Partner Jason Powers explains the challenges companies face in cartel investigations found in our latest antitrust cartel primer.
Jason highlights the importance of early fact investigation and economic analysis in civil...more
On September 5, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) formally abandoned its efforts to enforce a Biden-era final rule (“Rule”) implementing a blanket ban on most employee non-compete agreements. Instead, the FTC...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
For decades, California enforcers and politicians have argued for state-level antitrust enforcement activity at a level commensurate with California’s $4.1 trillion economy, the largest state economy in the United States....more
On April 14, 2025, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) obtained a high-profile “wage-fixing” conviction under the Sherman Act against a former executive of multiple home health care agencies (“HHAs”). A federal jury convicted...more
Join us as Darren Tucker and Jason Powers discuss recent antitrust developments in the energy sector and what lies ahead for companies in 2025. Key topics include the incoming Trump administration’s approach to antitrust...more
1/24/2025
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Chemicals ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Energy Market ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Events ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Premerger Notifications ,
Price-Fixing ,
Trump Administration
The Trump Administration’s antitrust enforcement priorities are beginning to take shape. On January 20, 2025, President Trump designated former Federal Trade Commission (FTC) commissioner Andrew Ferguson as the agency’s next...more
1/23/2025
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Big Tech ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Free Speech ,
Mergers ,
Natural Resources ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration
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
On December 12, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed a lawsuit against Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, the largest distributor of wine and spirits in the U.S., alleging that Southern Glazer’s has violated the...more
On August 20, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas entered a final judgment (“Order”) setting aside, on a nationwide basis, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) final rule (“Rule”) prohibiting...more
8/22/2024
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants
As we previously addressed, on April 24, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) voted to finalize its rule prohibiting businesses from entering into or enforcing non-compete clauses in nearly all agreements with workers...more
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) voted 3-2, on party lines, to finalize its rule prohibiting businesses from entering into or enforcing non-compete clauses in nearly all agreements with workers. This...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
The energy and chemicals industries play a central role in our economy and regularly capture the attention of antitrust authorities and practitioners. In this program, V&E partners Darren Tucker and Jason Powers will discuss...more
On September 26, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and a coalition of seventeen State Attorneys General filed a long-expected suit accusing Amazon of violating federal and state antitrust law. The 172-page complaint...more
The energy and chemicals industries play a central role in our economy and regularly capture the attention of antitrust authorities and practitioners. In this program, V&E lawyers Darren Tucker and Jason Powers discuss recent...more
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced plans to prohibit employers from imposing or enforcing non-compete clauses in agreements with workers, including employees and independent contractors, in...more
1/9/2023
/ Employment Contract ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
NPRM ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 5 ,
Unfair Competition
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
The energy and chemicals industries play a central role in our economy and regularly capture the attention of antitrust authorities and practitioners. In this program, V&E lawyers Darren Tucker and Jason Powers will discuss...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
Antitrust activity in the energy and chemical sectors was steady and robust in 2020. Even though U.S. antitrust agencies witnessed the first year-over-year drop in total merger activity since 2012, the agencies investigated...more
The energy and chemicals industries play a central role in our economy and regularly capture the attention of antitrust authorities and practitioners. In this program, V&E lawyers will discuss recent antitrust developments in...more
What did antitrust enforcement look like in the energy sector in 2019? It was limited to the Federal Trade Commission seeking relief in a single transaction and the Department of Justice obtaining two additional guilty pleas...more