On September 25, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit clarified what a whistleblower plaintiff must allege to demonstrate they had a “reasonable belief” that their employer violated the...more
During its Q4 earnings report yesterday, Netflix announced a significant departure from past practice: it’s done borrowing money (for now, at least). After borrowing “over $16 billion to feed its titanic appetite for content”...more
Office Depot and its tech support provider, Support.com, proved to be anything but “supportive” after allegedly providing false malware scan results and conning customers into paying for repairs and technical services that,...more
After weeks of regular negotiations (and months of back-and-forth before that), the rough outlines of a broad US/China trade deal are starting to take shape. Early reports look like the end of US tariffs in exchange for...more
Many wage laws and jurisdictions give deference to employment agreements or even past employer practices when determining when commissions are "earned" by an employee and must be "paid" by an employer. As a recent decision...more
The US and South Korea have announced a deal to renegotiate their trade pact, with “South agreeing to reduce its steel exports and open its market to American cares” in exchange for an exemption from the White House’s steel...more
In October 2012, James Lee fell and injured his back when the Real Space Pro 9000 Quantum Chair he was sitting on broke. Mr. Lee filed suit against Raynor Marketing, LTD. and Office Depot. Raynor sold the chair to Office...more
Willful misconduct is uninsurable. It is a fundamental principle of insurance, and it makes sense to both the lay and the lawyerly. But few states go as far as to codify this principle in the insurance code. California is an...more
Marking its second decision on the issue, the Delaware federal district court has held that the U.S. Supreme Court’s priority rules governing the distribution of unclaimed property among competing states do not apply to...more
The Central District of California held that Section 533 of the Insurance Code eliminated any potential for coverage for suit under the state False Claims Act. On January 4, the U.S. District Court for the Central...more
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is pleased to present its 2016 Antitrust Year in Review. In this report, we summarize the most significant antitrust matters and developments of the past year. We begin with a look at the...more
A federal court has ruled that a whistleblower suit under California’s False Claims Act alleged a “willful act” that cannot be covered by liability insurance. In Office Depot Inc. v. AIG Specialty Insurance Company, Case...more
Companies contemplating mergers should review the effect of the transaction on each customer type, application and product, not just on the broad customer base. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia...more
A federal court in Washington, D.C. issued an order blocking Staples' acquisition of Office Depot on the grounds that it would substantially lessen competition in the sale of consumable office supplies to national business...more
After more than a year-long battle with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the proposed acquisition of Office Depot, Inc. (ODP) by Staples, Inc. (SPLS) was blocked by the Honorable Emmet G. Sullivan of the U.S. District...more
On May 17, 2016, one week after announcing his decision, Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia released a public version of his opinion siding with the Federal Trade Commission in its...more
On May 10, Staples and Office Depot announced that they would be terminating their $6.3 billion merger in the wake of a federal judge’s decision to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the deal. This represents the second...more
On May 10, 2016, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia released his highly anticipated decision in the matter of Staples’ acquisition of Office Depot, granting the Federal Trade...more
After last month’s bench trial, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan has granted the FTC a preliminary injunction enjoining the merger between Staples and Office Depot. As a result, the companies have decided to end their efforts to...more
FTC Files No-AG Suit Against Pharmaceutical Companies - On March 30, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaintin the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against several drug...more
Yesterday, Staples closed its defense in the case brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to block the Staples-Office Depot merger—without calling any witnesses. (We covered the first week of the trial here.) Judge...more
On Monday, Staples and the Federal Trade Commission began presenting arguments in the D.C. District Court on whether the FTC should be entitled to a preliminary injunction to halt a potential merger between Staples and Office...more
Merger activity in 2015 was at its highest level in years, and competition authorities in the U.S. and European Union continued to be very aggressive, challenging a number of high-profile deals in court and causing some...more
SUPREME AND FEDERAL COURT CASES - U.S. Supreme Court Denies Writ to Overturn Application of the Kessler Doctrine - The U.S. Supreme Court denied software developer’s SpeedTrack writ to overturn the Federal...more
As we previously reported, the FTC recently filed suit to challenge Staples’ $6.3 billion bid for Office Depot. In response to the FTC’s challenge, Staples offered to divest up to $1.25 billion in commercial contracts to...more