NCAA vs. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma: A Win for Antitrust Law and College Football Fans
In a December 2023 statement, the White House detailed its intention to encourage antitrust enforcers to scrutinize anticompetitive acquisitions and anticompetitive practices in health care. Specifically, the statement...more
For the first time in 40 years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken action to enforce Section 8 of the Clayton Act, which prohibits so-called interlocking directorates. In the same action, the FTC mounted its first...more
On Monday, the FTC lost its bid to preliminarily enjoin Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, the maker of the popular video game, “Call of Duty.” Based on a vertical foreclosure theory, this case marks the fourth loss for...more
On Friday May 19, 2023, Massachusetts Federal District Judge Leo T. Sorokin found that the partnership between JetBlue and American Airlines (“American”), known as the “Northeast Alliance” or “NEA,” harmed competition in the...more
As a sport, golf has rarely, if ever, been described as "cutting edge." But in the courtroom, golf may be at the forefront of the latest antitrust developments. In the coming months, the legal war unfolding in professional...more
In what might be a further expansion of antitrust enforcement of interlocking directorates, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a policy statement announcing that it now interprets Section 5 of the FTC Act to grant it...more
On November 10, 2022 (following its January 2021 withdrawal of its 2015 policy statement regarding enforcement under Section 5 of the FTC Act), the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “the Commission”) issued a new statement...more
Recent activity and statements from the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission signal that the federal agencies are likely to be more aggressive in pursuing enforcement against what they identify as...more
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced last week that directors at several technology companies have resigned as a consequence of the agency’s renewed focus on overlapping board membership between...more
WHAT HAPPENED - • Seven directors resigned from corporate boards following promises of enforcement of Clayton Act Section 8 (15 U.S.C. § 19) by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Antitrust Division (the Division), the...more
On October 19, 2022, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice announced that seven directors resigned from five different US public company boards of directors following DOJ concerns that their roles violated...more
In the single largest enforcement event in the history of Section 8 of the Clayton Act, it was recently revealed that seven directors have resigned from the corporate boards of five public companies in response to the Justice...more
In what appears to be a significant expansion of its antitrust enforcement efforts, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued letters to multiple public companies, investors, and individuals this week, stating it may bring...more
The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division continues to push its aggressive civil and criminal agenda. While the Division has lost several high-profile criminal cases in the chicken processing industry and the labor market,...more
Although many attempts by physicians to challenge hospital medical staff privileges terminations on antitrust grounds have fallen flat over the years, often because of perceived failures by the plaintiff to allege an...more
For at least the third time in recent months, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, "the agencies") have signaled increased scrutiny of the private equity industry,...more
A review of President Biden’s proposed Budget (“Budget”) for 2023 spotlights the enforcement priorities of the president’s Justice Department as the administration enters its third year. ...more
During the recent Spring 2022 Enforcers Summit, Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division chief, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter, announced that interlocking directorates will face increased...more
In remarks delivered on January 18, 2022, and January 24, 2022, Jonathan Kanter, the Assistant Attorney General (AAG) for the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division, laid out the areas where he perceives...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has lost the first round of its challenge to Altria Group, Inc.’s (Altria) $12.8 billion acquisition of a 35 percent stake in JUUL Labs, Inc. (JLI). On February 17, 2022, an agency...more
In a departure from past enforcement priorities, the Federal Trade Commission has challenged three vertical mergers over the past year, leading the parties to abandon two of the three deals...more
On November 2, 2021, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block the planned $2.175 billion merger between powerhouse publishing companies...more
On November 2, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit seeking to block Penguin Random House's proposed acquisition of Simon & Schuster. This lawsuit further demonstrates the Biden Administration's...more
The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) recently announced that two top executives of a talent and media agency resigned their positions on the board of directors for a competing business. They did so after...more
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted July 21, 2021, to repeal a 1995 policy statement that eliminated prior approval and prior notice provisions from most merger settlements. In repealing this longstanding policy—and...more