Key Points
- Strong antitrust enforcement is expected to continue, but without the use of the novel and untested legal theories that defined the Biden administration approach.
- Regulators are likely to continue to focus...more
Boards face a multitude of challenges, and opportunities, with the change in administrations. As we describe in the latest issue of The Informed Board, the new administration is forcing companies to reexamine their approaches...more
2/20/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Multinationals ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Supply Chain ,
Trump Administration
On January 16, 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (together, the Agencies) released the Antitrust Guidelines for Business Activities Affecting Workers (Guidelines),...more
1/30/2025
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Popular ,
Wage and Hour
Key Points -
- We expect the second Trump administration to take a relatively aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement, as regulators did during President-elect Trump’s first term, because there is bipartisan support...more
In this edition of Insights, we take a closer look at the megadeals and sponsor transactions driving recent M&A activity, the importance of staying ahead of the risks in AI development and deployment, and other diverse...more
9/30/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Chevron Deference ,
Corner Post Inc v Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ,
Corporate Governance ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Government Agencies ,
Judicial Authority ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Machine Learning ,
Mergers ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Privacy Laws ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
SCOTUS ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders ,
Technology Sector
In Ryan LLC v. Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) final noncompete rule was held to be “unlawful and set aside” by Judge Ada Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas....more
9/26/2024
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Labor Regulations ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
SCOTUS ,
Texas
On August 20, 2024, in Ryan LLC v. Federal Trade Commission, a district court in the Northern District of Texas held “unlawful and set[] aside” the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Non-Compete Rule, 16 C.F.R. § 910.1–.6. That...more
8/26/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Competition ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Lack of Authority ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Popular ,
Set-Asides ,
Statutory Authority ,
Texas ,
Unconstitutional Condition
On July 3, 2024, in Ryan v. Federal Trade Commission, a district court in the Northern District of Texas preliminarily enjoined the implementation and enforcement against the plaintiff and plaintiffs-intervenors of a Federal...more
7/9/2024
/ Appeals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Texas
Explore the unique considerations for mergers and acquisitions in the AI sector, the return of IPOs, the implications of new Supreme Court decisions and other developments in this edition of Skadden’s quarterly Insights....more
6/27/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Banking Sector ,
Capital Markets ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Executive Compensation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
Private Equity ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Technology
When the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued its long-awaited final rule banning virtually all noncompete clauses between workers and employers, it also published 500-plus pages of commentary....more
6/27/2024
/ Business Entities ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dissolution ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Enforcement ,
Executive Compensation ,
Exemptions ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Selling a Business
After decades of dormancy, the Robinson-Patman Act (RPA), a Depression-era antitrust statute prohibiting price discrimination, has recently become the subject of renewed interest from both private plaintiffs and government...more
On May 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) jointly announced a request for members of the public to provide information that the agencies can use “to identify...more
6/3/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Popular ,
Private Equity ,
Private Equity Firms ,
Request For Information
The FTC issued its final rule broadly banning noncompete clauses between employers and workers. In this episode of “Fierce Competition,” Skadden attorneys Tara Reinhart, Annie Villanueva Jeffers and Justine Haimi discuss the...more
Antitrust Enforcers Are Increasingly Focused on Labor Markets, and Not Just in the Merger Context With antitrust regulators focused on competition in labor markets, companies should revisit their noncompete agreements,...more
3/29/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Capital Markets ,
Competition ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mergers ,
National Security ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Taxation
Labor markets have been a focus of antitrust regulators at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) since the Obama administration. Indications are that enforcers will be even more aggressive across...more
3/26/2024
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employees ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Investigations ,
Mergers ,
No-Poaching ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Wage-Fixing
On February 26, 2024, after a 16-month investigation, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued The Kroger Company and Albertsons Companies, Inc. in the U.S. District Court of Oregon to try to block their $24.6 billion merger....more
3/12/2024
/ Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Blocked Mergers ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Kroger ,
Merger Controls ,
Popular ,
State and Local Government ,
Supermarkets ,
Unions ,
Washington
On December 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) released the final 2023 Merger Guidelines (the Guidelines). While the final version of the Guidelines reflects...more
12/22/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Draft Guidance ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Vertical Mergers
In the second installment of our “Fierce Competition” podcast, partners Ken Schwartz, Tara Reinhart and Aurora Luoma discuss issues that antitrust attorneys — on both the corporate and litigation side — encounter as antitrust...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a draft of proposed new merger guidelines today, 18 months after FTC Chair Lina Khan and Assistant Attorney General...more
In the latest setback in the Department Justice Antitrust Division’s (DOJ) attempts to prosecute “no-poach” agreements criminally, a federal judge acquitted from the bench all six defendant employees of aerospace engineering...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division — for the third time in the span of a year — recently failed to convince a jury that alleged agreements to fix or stabilize labor markets should be punished criminally. It...more
This edition of Skadden’s quarterly Insights looks at the rising number of de-SPACed companies seeking Chapter 11 protection, the growth of a market designed to assume legacy liabilities, an effort to establish...more
4/20/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Banking Sector ,
Capital Markets ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Governance ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Energy Tax Incentives ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Holding Companies ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Innovative Technology ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Liability ,
Mergers ,
Patents ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Tax Credits
US Regulators Pursue an Expansive View of Antitrust Laws -
For almost two years, industry participants have felt the effects of the Biden administration’s “big is bad” approach to antitrust — not only in technology sectors,...more
12/19/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Biden Administration ,
Buyers ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Domestic Dealmaking ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Global Dealmaking ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Remedies ,
UK ,
Vertical Mergers
The pandemic’s impact may be subsiding, but businesses are encountering new challenges across the globe, including the potential for an economic retrenchment, rising interest rates, shifting regulatory and litigation...more
12/14/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Antitrust Division ,
Banking Sector ,
Big Tech ,
Board of Directors ,
Bonds ,
Borrowers ,
Capital Markets ,
Capital Raising ,
China ,
Climate Change ,
Convertible Notes ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Creditors ,
Cross-Border ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Due Diligence ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Executive Compensation ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Forum Selection ,
Investigations ,
IRS ,
Lenders ,
Mergers ,
Money Laundering ,
Partnerships ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Recessions ,
Repurchases ,
Russia ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Shareholders ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Taxation ,
Technology ,
UK ,
Vertical Mergers
On November 10, 2022, the FTC issued a Policy Statement Regarding the Scope of Unfair Methods of Competition Under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act that revisited the Commission’s decades-long enforcement...more