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
Participants will hear our panelists discuss the current federal government enforcement landscape in key areas including antitrust, environmental, energy and securities enforcement. Our panel will address current trends and...more
9/29/2025
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Violations ,
Government Agencies ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Trump Administration ,
Webinars
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
Federal government enforcement continues to pose commercial and reputational risks to companies and individuals that operate in highly regulated environments. Vinson & Elkins is pleased to offer this round-up of recent...more
9/10/2025
/ Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FERC ,
Government Agencies ,
Price-Fixing ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Risk Management ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trump Administration
Colorado’s antitrust landscape is undergoing a fundamental transformation — not just because of the sweeping legislative changes enacted in 2023, but also due to the assertive approach now being taken by the Colorado Attorney...more
7/14/2025
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Colorado ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization ,
New Legislation ,
Penalties ,
Price-Fixing ,
Private Equity Firms ,
State Attorneys General
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 17, 2025, a federal district court denied a motion to dismiss the first government enforcement action brought in decades under the Robinson-Patman Act (“RPA”), a statute that prohibits price discrimination and other...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
On February 26, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced the formation of a Joint Labor Task Force aimed at addressing deceptive, unfair, and anticompetitive practices impacting labor markets. The FTC signaled an...more
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
After a three-year crackdown on the use of “ephemeral” electronic messaging platforms by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) under Chair Gary Gensler, early indications are that the incoming Trump...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
Privilege logging is one of the most time-consuming, expensive, and contentious components of discovery. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(A), which governs the withholding of privileged material, provides little...more
For years, email has been the dominant form of business communication. The average office worker sends approximately 9,000 to 15,000 emails per year. Multiply 15,000 emails across multiple personnel and multiple years, and...more
Companies in the midst of government investigations and enforcement actions often must contend with follow-on civil litigation stemming from the same issues. Indeed, due to differing standards of proof, companies that are...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
On March 5, 2024, the White House announced the establishment of a new “Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing” (the “Strike Force”) stating that the Biden administration will hold accountable “corporations . . . when...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
Recent headlines have been dominated by rapid developments in generative artificial intelligence, and a number of startups are positioning themselves to offer new tools to the legal industry making use of this groundbreaking...more
The legal world recently learned an important lesson about the blind adoption of generative AI when two New York attorneys were sanctioned for using ChatGPT to write a brief that included entirely fabricated cases. The firm...more
12/15/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Databases ,
Discovery ,
Draft Documents ,
e-Discovery ,
False Statements ,
Information Technology ,
Judges ,
Legal Research ,
Legal Technology ,
Machine Learning ,
Sanctions
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 June 29, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) Bureau of Competition and Office of Technology published a joint blog post that provided deeper insight into the FTC’s focus on competition in generative artificial...more
This checklist outlines antitrust considerations for the use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) technology. Practices involving AI that could give rise to antitrust risk include algorithmic collusion, exclusionary practices...more