The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled that the waiver of a State's immunity under Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is unconstitutional. This ruling permits a State to defend a Title V...more
Merger control in the United States is on the cusp of significant change as the Federal Trade Commission, in collaboration with the Department of Justice, prepares to finalize a proposed rule—first announced in June—that will...more
In my earlier post in the Antitrust Advocate Blog, I noted recent setbacks that the Federal Trade Commission has experienced with respect to its regulatory authority. I then asked whether the FTC would suffer another...more
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on Sept. 27, 2023, granted summary judgment against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in its challenge to the acquisition of three hospitals in Louisiana pursuant...more
The City of LaGrange, Georgia, owns and operates a water supply system. It provides water service both within its corporate limits and beyond. In many areas outside city limits, the City is the sole provider of water service....more
On March 18, President Trump announced that he will invoke the Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA), 50 U.S.C. § 4501 et seq., to cope with shortfalls of essential medical supplies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The...more
As the pandemic worsens, more and more hospitals and medical providers are experiencing shortfalls of critical supplies, including ventilators, face shields, and masks. Those with 3D printers and idle manufacturing centers...more
On January 7, 2019, in Green Sols. Recycling, LLC v. Reno Disposal Co., No. 3:16-cv-00334-MMD-CBC, 2019 BL 4611 (D. Nev. Jan. 07, 2019), the District Court for the District of Nevada granted summary judgment on plaintiff’s...more
In the recent West Virginia Supreme Court case of R.L.D. v. W.Va. Dep’t of Health & Human Res., 2018 WL 6040310 (November 19, 2018), the Court upheld summary judgment as a matter of law in favor of Child Protective Services...more
The Supreme Court of Alabama (“Court”) in an August 29 opinion addressed an inverse condemnation action against an Alabama agency. See Portersville Bay Oyster Co., v. Christopher Blankenship, No. 1161101, 2018 WL 4124504...more
Often, health care providers want to take advantage of state “provider cooperation” laws—those laws that sanction (and provide “state action immunity” for) conduct that would otherwise raise antitrust concerns. Late last...more
On September 19, 2017, the Tennessee Department of Health (“TDOH”) granted the request for a Certificate of Public Advantage (“COPA”) from Wellmont Health System and Mountain States Health Alliance. This approval paves the...more
Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ben Sasse (R-NE) recently introduced a bill that would extend a limited state action immunity to state licensure boards only if states implement reforms that reduce occupational...more
The battle over organizing workers in the on-demand economy continues to heat up. Yesterday, a federal court in Washington dismissed a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others challenging the City of Seattle’s...more
Decision from largest judicial circuit establishes majority position that denials of state action immunity are not immediately appealable collateral orders. On June 12, 2017, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit...more
Even with a reduced lineup of only two commissioners — the Republican Acting Chair and one Democratic Commissioner — the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC” or “Commission”) filed an administrative complaint this week against...more
In a recent decision, the Third Circuit held that a public university and its non-profit partner were immune from antitrust liability after the university enacted a student residency policy that benefitted on-campus...more
In its recent decision in L R Avionics Technologies Limited v. The Federal Republic of Nigeria & Attorney General of the Federation of Nigeria, the Commercial Court found that that premises owned by Nigeria were not “in use...more
In another procedural defeat for the Texas Medical Board (the “Board”) over its embattled telemedicine rule, last week, a federal judge held that the Board waited too long to request certification of appeal to the Fifth...more
In what will undoubtedly be seen by all interested parties as a significant setback in the Federal Trade Commission’s active opposition to potentially anticompetitive healthcare collaborations, the FTC voted unanimously on...more
On June 17, the Texas Medical Board (“Board”) filed a brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reiterating that the Board’s rulemaking processes are protected under the state action immunity doctrine, noting that the...more
More than fifty years ago, the Supreme Court formalized the “state-action antitrust immunity” doctrine - a judge-made rule that certain state governmental conduct is immune from challenge under the federal antitrust laws....more
Earlier this week, in Colindres v. Battle, et al., No. 15-CV-2843 (N.D. Ga.), the District Court for the Northern District of Georgia refused to dismiss antitrust claims brought by the owner of a teeth-whitening company...more
Until recently, actions by state medical boards, operating pursuant to a state legislative mandate, were generally thought to be insulated from federal antitrust scrutiny by virtue of the state-action exemption. That changed,...more
In a notice of appeal filed on January 8, 2016, the Texas Medical Board appealed the Western District of Texas’s ruling that the Texas Medical Board was not entitled to state action immunity in an antitrust suit involving...more