On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in a party-line vote, approved its final rule banning most non-compete agreements.
The final rule bans all non-competes nationwide, including de facto non-competes,...more
4/25/2024
/ Corporate Executives ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Trade Secrets
On January 22, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced revised jurisdictional thresholds for determining whether a proposed transaction must be reported to federal authorities under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR)...more
On December 18, 2023, the U.S. antitrust enforcers, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) (collectively, the “Agencies”), issued their final Merger Guidelines...more
12/22/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
New Guidance ,
Sherman Act ,
The Clayton Act ,
Vertical Mergers
On August 16, 2023, the US Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) brought its first enforcement action under Section 8 of the Clayton Act in 40 years. At the same time, the US Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (“DOJ” and...more
vOn July 19, 2023, the U.S. antitrust enforcers, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) (collectively, the “Agencies”), released draft merger guidelines for public...more
8/15/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Draft Guidance ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Public Comment ,
SCOTUS ,
United Healthcare Insurance Co. ,
Vertical Mergers
On June 27, 2023, the FTC and DOJ (the Agencies) jointly announced proposed changes to the HSR premerger notification form. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which appeared in the Federal Register, includes provisions that...more
Last week, U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden dismissed a case brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) against several aerospace engineering bosses for alleged anticompetitive use of no-poach agreements. This...more
The Government Continues to Seek Criminal Sanctions in Cases Regarding Wage-Fixing and No-Poach Agreements -
On Wednesday, March 22, a Maine federal jury acquitted four operators of home health agencies who were accused of...more
3/28/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Certifications ,
Criminal Sanctions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Healthcare ,
Home Health Care ,
No-Poaching ,
Popular ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Wage-Fixing ,
Written Agreements
On Friday, February 3, DOJ announced that it is withdrawing three policy statements of antitrust guidance it has provided and that have been adopted by the healthcare industry for close to 30 years. The statements include...more
On January 23, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced revised jurisdictional thresholds for determining whether a proposed transaction must be reported to federal authorities under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR)...more
In his 2021 Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy, President Biden called on the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) to “ban or limit non-compete agreements.” Last week, the FTC responded by taking...more
On February 18, 2021, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the first court-ordered divestiture arising from a privately litigated merger challenge. The Court also upheld a $36 million damages award (post-trebling) in favor of the...more
In a remarkable year for the equity markets in 2020, the increased use of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”) to take companies public stands out as a defining trend. In 2020, well-known private businesses – like...more
1/26/2021
/ Collusion ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Division of Corporate Finance ,
Due Diligence ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Form S-1 ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Popular ,
Private Equity Firms ,
PSLRA ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sherman Act ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
On December 23, 2020, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2020, which includes a provision that would repeal the limited federal antitrust immunity currently granted to certain...more
Ransomware has risen to “worst nightmare” status for many organizations, particularly in the healthcare industry. While it has been lurking for many years, recently ransomware has emerged as one of the most virulent...more
11/9/2020
/ Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
FBI ,
Health Care Providers ,
Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) ,
Hospitals ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Personal Information ,
Popular ,
Ransomware
The Department of Justice Antitrust Division is intensifying its focus on the financial services sector and financial markets, and it is increasing collaboration with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Deputy...more