Competition

  • July 23, 2024

    Knives Out For Another Pro-Agency Landmark After Chevron

    Only weeks after U.S. Supreme Court conservatives took a hatchet to the judicial deference shown to federal agencies, right-leaning lawyers are imploring the justices to rock the administrative law realm again by gutting a New Deal-era precedent at the heart of the modern regulatory system.

  • July 23, 2024

    Kroger And Colo. Talks To Avoid Merger Hearing Stall Out

    Negotiations between Kroger Co. and Colorado enforcers to avoid an injunction hearing in the state's challenge to a $24 billion merger with Albertsons appeared to have stalled, prompting the grocers Tuesday to pitch a state judge on other options to avoid the fast-approaching proceeding.

  • July 23, 2024

    FTC Won't Delay Challenge To Handbag Merger Either

    The Federal Trade Commission has declined to pause its administrative challenge to the $8.5 billion handbag merger between the owners of Coach and Michael Koors, saying that even a district court refusal to temporarily enjoin the merger might not end the FTC's in-house case.

  • July 23, 2024

    ​​​​​​​Nigeria Fines Meta $220M Over WhatsApp Privacy Policy

    Nigerian regulators have hit Meta with a $220 million fine over alleged privacy and antitrust violations and ordered the company to stop sharing WhatsApp users' data with advertisers without express permission, the culmination of a nearly three-year-long investigative process.

  • July 23, 2024

    Microsoft Calls FTC Price Hike Claims 'Misleading' At 9th Circ

    Microsoft pushed back against the Federal Trade Commission's contention that an increase in the company's gaming subscription pricing is evidence of the anticompetitive effects of the software giant's $68.7 billion acquisition of game developer Activision Blizzard Inc., calling the commission out for trying to "reinvent" its case against the merger on appeal to the Ninth Circuit.

  • July 23, 2024

    US, UK, EU Antitrust Enforcers Outline AI Principles

    The top antitrust officials from the U.S. Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission, the European Commission and the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority presented a unified international commitment Tuesday to closely monitor artificial intelligence technology and the companies that they warned could wield AI anticompetitively.

  • July 23, 2024

    Chancery Ends Challenge To $12.5B Qualtrics' SAP Sale

    Saying it was not reasonably conceivable that he would find software giant SAP and Qualtrics International Inc. directors liable for damages after Qualtrics' $12.5 billion sale to Silver Lake Capital despite a superficially better offer, a Delaware vice chancellor on Tuesday dismissed a stockholder challenge to the deal.

  • July 23, 2024

    FTC Attys On Kroger Case Get Extensions After IT Outage

    The administrative law judge overseeing the Federal Trade Commission's in-house challenge to Kroger and Albertsons' $25 billion merger has given the agency and the grocery behemoths two extra days on a couple of filing deadlines after the FTC said the worldwide Microsoft outage left several counsel laptops unusable.

  • July 23, 2024

    Optum Can Arbitrate Calif. Healthcare Provider's Antitrust Suit

    A California federal judge Tuesday ordered certain Emanate Health entities who signed hospital services and physician agreements with Optum to arbitrate their antitrust suit accusing it of monopolizing a primary care physician market, finding the agreements encompass rules that say issues of arbitrability will be referred to an arbitrator.

  • July 23, 2024

    Bros. Want New Trial For Concrete Price-Fixing Convictions

    Two brothers convicted earlier this month of involvement in a ready-made concrete bid-rigging and price-fixing scheme asked a Georgia federal judge Monday for another shot at trial, arguing that repeated testimony about purported law-breaking tipped the scales in favor of federal prosecutors.

  • July 23, 2024

    Biz Groups Form Lobby Effort To Fight FCC Bulk Billing Rules

    Bulk billing agreements are often a boon for people living in apartment buildings and condos, according to a new coalition made up of multifamily housing organizations and a cable trade group, which was formed to push the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider banning such arrangements.

  • July 23, 2024

    Capital One Card Holders Sue To Block Discover Merger

    Capital One credit card holders launched a proposed class action seeking to block the company's $35 billion purchase of Discover Monday, claiming the acquisition will drive down competition and further consolidate the already-concentrated credit card market.

  • July 23, 2024

    On Capitol Hill, PBM Execs Deny Role In High Drug Costs

    Executives from the nation's three largest pharmacy benefit managers told members of a U.S. House committee on Tuesday that they lower drug costs while pointing the finger at pharmaceutical manufacturers.

  • July 23, 2024

    Senate Dems Roll Out Bill To Codify Chevron Deference

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., led a group of Democratic senators Tuesday in introducing a bill to codify the now-defunct doctrine of Chevron deference after it was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last month.

  • July 23, 2024

    Philly Judge Won't Block FTC Noncompete Ban

    A Pennsylvania federal judge refused Tuesday to temporarily block the Federal Trade Commission's impending ban on employment noncompete agreements, a victory for commission authority that could be short-lived as the agency awaits a final decision from a Texas federal judge who's already indicated an inclination to stop the regulation.

  • July 23, 2024

    Firm Says Rival's Trademark Merely 'Common Spanish Phrase'

    A Houston-based immigration law firm wants claims trimmed in a suit brought by a rival Washington state firm claiming unfair competition and trademark violation, also filing a counterclaim for declaratory judgment that calls the supposed trademark a "common Spanish phrase."

  • July 23, 2024

    Chase, McKinsey Get FTC Inquiry Over 'Surveillance Pricing'

    The Federal Trade Commission has issued orders to eight companies — including Mastercard, Chase, Accenture and McKinsey & Co. — seeking more information about the potential impact their practices of "surveillance pricing" products and services have on privacy, competition and consumer protection, the FTC said Tuesday.

  • July 22, 2024

    FCC, Industry Debate If Brand X Case Set Broadband In Stone

    Industry groups are pushing their case to the Sixth Circuit that the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules should be tossed because the demise of the Chevron doctrine trimmed agency's legal authority, but the FCC argues that the recent paring back of federal regulators' discretion means nothing for the agency's restrictions on broadband providers.

  • July 22, 2024

    Fla. Jury Says Insurance Broker Owes $3M For Worker Poaching

    A Florida federal jury has awarded more than $3 million in damages to a New York insurance brokerage in a trial over employment contracts, finding that a competitor interfered with its business by helping two employees breach fiduciary duties when they switched jobs and brought client lists with them.

  • July 22, 2024

    Tevra Says Bayer Owes Millions As Antitrust Trial Opens

    Tevra Brands LLC told a California federal jury during antitrust trial openings Monday that Bayer owes millions of dollars for allegedly cutting anticompetitive deals with retailers to undermine competition from anti-flea-and-tick treatment generics, while Bayer defended its "reasonable" and optional retailer discounts and criticized Tevra's "astronomical" damages demand.

  • July 22, 2024

    Gov't Wants Protest Over $186M In DOD Fuel Deals Thrown Out

    The Defense Logistics Agency has urged the Court of Federal Claims to dismiss a protest alleging it wrongly ignored misconduct by companies awarded $186 million in fuel delivery deals, saying it adequately investigated the claims and found nothing untoward.

  • July 22, 2024

    New Precedent, New Fate For NAR 'Cooperation' Rule Suit

    A California federal judge reversed course Monday and revived a lawsuit, tossed in 2021, targeting National Association of Realtors rules that prevent real estate agents from listing properties outside their affiliated networks, after an intervening Ninth Circuit decision redirected the product market in question.

  • July 22, 2024

    Price-Fixing Claims Against Par Pharma On Chopping Block

    A Connecticut federal judge has asked a coalition of states to explain why he shouldn't toss two price-fixing lawsuits against Par Pharmaceutical Companies Inc., noting that the defendant and its parent, Endo International PLC, recently filed Chapter 11 reorganization plans shielding them from the cases.

  • July 22, 2024

    FTC Tells 5th Circ. Anesthesia Co. Can't Stop Antitrust Case

    The Federal Trade Commission is telling the Fifth Circuit to dismiss U.S. Anesthesia Partners Inc.'s appeal in the FTC's antitrust case against it, saying the circuit court has no jurisdiction in the appeal because the lower court ruling at issue falls outside the scope of the collateral order doctrine.

  • July 22, 2024

    In Transfer Row, Live Nation Calls DOJ Case Merger Deal 2.0

    Live Nation and Ticketmaster formally asked a skeptical New York federal judge to transfer the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit to Washington, D.C., arguing the case clearly grows out of an underlying 2010 deal clearing the merger the government now wants unwound.

Expert Analysis

  • FBI Raid Signals Growing Criminal Enforcement Of Algorithms

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    The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division's increased willingness to pursue the use of algorithmic pricing as a potential criminal violation means that companies need to understand the software solutions they employ and stay abreast of antitrust best practices when contracting with providers, say attorneys at Rule Garza.

  • Series

    Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • What UK Digital Markets Act Will Mean For Competition Law

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    The new Digital Markets Act’s reforms will strengthen the Competition and Markets Authority's investigatory and enforcement powers across its full remit of merger control and antitrust investigations, representing a seismic shift in the U.K. competition and consumer law landscape, say lawyers at Travers Smith.

  • Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice

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    The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • Realtor Settlement May Create New Antitrust Pitfalls

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    Following a recent antitrust settlement between the National Association of Realtors and home sellers, practices are set to change and the increased competition may benefit both brokers and homebuyers, but the loss of the customary method of buyer broker compensation could lead to new antitrust concerns, says Colin Ahler at Snell & Wilmer.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • Preparing For CFPB 'Junk Fee' Push Into Mortgage Industry

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    As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau considers expanding its "junk fee" initiative into mortgage closing costs, mortgage lenders and third parties must develop plans now that anticipate potential rulemaking or enforcement activity in this space, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board effectively gives new entities their own personal statute of limitations to challenge rules and regulations, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence may portend the court's view that those entities do not need to be directly regulated, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • Series

    After Chevron: FTC's 'Unfair Competition' Actions In Jeopardy

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court's decision ending Chevron deference will have limited effect on the Federal Trade Commission's merger guidelines, administrative enforcement actions and commission decisions on appeal, it could restrict the agency's expansive take on its rulemaking authority and threaten the noncompete ban, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

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    In the month since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 26 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

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    After Chevron: Expect Few Changes In ITC Rulemaking

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion overruling the Chevron doctrine will have less impact on the U.S. International Trade Commission than other agencies administering trade statutes, given that the commission exercises its congressionally granted authority in a manner that allows for consistent decision making at both agency and judicial levels, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

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