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
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
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
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
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
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
As the Biden Administration enters its second year, the White House and antitrust enforcers at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) continue to focus on the intersection between antitrust and...more
On November 18, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 4-0 to adopt a new policy statement outlining the commission’s plans to expand its criminal referral program in an effort to prevent and deter corporate crime...more
12/3/2021
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Criminal Antitrust Litigation ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Policy Statement
In a September 22, 2021, memorandum to staff, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan formally laid out her “Vision and Priorities for the FTC,” reaffirming her calls for broad antitrust enforcement organized around...more
As anticipated, on June 15, 2021, the U.S. Senate confirmed Lina Khan’s appointment to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Unexpectedly, within hours of her confirmation, President Joe Biden named her FTC chair. Ms. Khan...more
Antitrust treatment of no-poach agreements continues to evolve as private cases progress, state attorneys general ramp up enforcement efforts and federal regulators further contemplate the legality of no-poach agreements....more
On April 12, the Federal Trade Commission held a hearing to debate the extent to which the FTC should use retrospective reviews to strengthen merger enforcement. This was the latest in the series of hearings on Competition...more
4/26/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Hearings ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Commissioners ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Political Parties
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Bureau of Competition has established a task force dedicated to monitoring competition in U.S. technology markets and taking enforcement actions as warranted. While the remit of the task...more
4/23/2019
/ Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Competition ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Emerging Technology Companies ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Agency Taskforce ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hospital Mergers ,
Mergers ,
Technology Sector
Skadden’s Antitrust and Competition Group and the economics firm Charles River Associates recently co-hosted the ninth annual “Antitrust in the Technology Sector: Policy Perspectives and Insights From the Enforcers” seminar...more
3/5/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
AT&T ,
Bid Rigging ,
Cartels ,
Cloud Computing ,
Collusion ,
Competition ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Marketplace ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FRAND ,
Innovation ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization ,
No-Poaching ,
Online Platforms ,
Qualcomm ,
Reputational Injury ,
Social Media ,
Technology Sector ,
Time Warner ,
Vertical Mergers
On October 21, 2016, Skadden presented a seminar titled “Antitrust Law and Policies From Brussels to Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Divide?” in Brussels. Former DG Competition Director General Sir Philip Lowe gave the keynote...more
12/19/2016
/ Brussels Regulation ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Free Movement ,
Geo-Blocking ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)