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Competition
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August 30, 2024
Steel Distributor Exec Pleads Guilty To Price-Fixing
A second steel distributor executive pled guilty Friday in Puerto Rico to criminal charges for allegedly participating in an eight-year-long scheme to fix the prices of steel products, including while the island was recovering from a pair of hurricanes.
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August 30, 2024
UK Drops Antitrust Probe Into School Software Co.
A United Kingdom school software company is no longer facing antitrust scrutiny over alleged litigation threats against schools looking to switch providers, but the firm continues to suggest that it may take action against the "misuse of its intellectual property" that it says complaints to authorities were meant to hide.
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August 30, 2024
Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action
Appeals courts have awakened from summertime slumber and crammed their early autumn calendars with arguments of national significance, which Law360 previews in this edition of Wheeling & Appealing. We're also recapping August's top appellate decisions, exploring new polling about U.S. Supreme Court opinions and testing your knowledge of Fifth Circuit history.
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August 30, 2024
Align Tech Cuts $27.5M Antitrust Deal With 1.45M Consumers
A proposed class of nearly 1.45 million SmileDirectClub teeth-aligner buyers urged a California federal judge Thursday to preliminarily sign off on Align Technologies Inc.'s $27.5 million cash and coupon settlement to resolve antitrust claims alleging the company colluded with the now-bankrupt SmileDirecClub to illegally restrict competition.
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August 30, 2024
Semiconductor Co. Beats Investor Suit Over Failed $8B Merger
A California federal judge has dismissed a proposed investor class action filed over semiconductor company MaxLinear Inc.'s decision to cancel a planned $8 billion merger with Silicon Motion Technology Corp., finding investors' claims against the former can't stand because they held shares in the latter.
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August 30, 2024
RTX Corp. To Settle Engineers' No-Poach Class Claims
RTX Corp. on Friday announced a nascent class action settlement in a lawsuit accusing its Pratt & Whitney division of orchestrating an agreement among five aerospace engineering suppliers not to hire one another's employees, a move that follows a $26.5 million settlement between the employees and the five other firms.
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August 30, 2024
Judge Unsure Warehouse Antitrust Suit Belongs In Fed. Court
An Illinois federal judge appeared skeptical Friday that a warehouse developer could unravel a municipal contract with several real estate companies accused of violating antitrust laws, questioning if the plaintiff was truly harmed by the deal or a related judgment its rivals later won in state court.
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August 30, 2024
Hotel Chains, Software Co. Fight Algorithmic Pricing Suit
Major hotel chains and software provider SAS Institute Inc. have asked a California federal court to toss a proposed class action from hotel guests alleging the companies used a shared pricing algorithm to fix and raise room rates nationwide.
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August 30, 2024
Harris Admin Would Stay Course On Tough Antitrust Policy
Just two days after food and candy giant Mars announced its blockbuster $35.9 billion Kellanova purchase, Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign indicated plans to “crack down” on mergers between large food companies. That would differ significantly from another Trump presidency, which could see a generally more relaxed antitrust environment. Here, Law360 explores anticipated policy differences between the two.
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August 30, 2024
Monthly Merger Review Snapshot
The Federal Trade Commission went to court against Kroger's $25 billion purchase of Albertsons and geared up for its looming handbags merger case, the Justice Department added to its case against Live Nation, and the sports-streaming juggernaut partnering ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery hit a significant roadblock.
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August 29, 2024
Doctor Wants Stepson Barred From Selling Medial Device
A Texas doctor has asked a federal court to step in and stop his stepson from selling "micro-current therapy medical devices," saying in a motion this week that his stepson was still using his trademarks despite the fact that he had canceled his license.
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August 29, 2024
Broadcom Looks To Toss Samsung's Chip Antitrust Case
Broadcom has urged a California federal court to toss a case from Samsung accusing the chipmaker of blocking competitors from the market, saying the companies' supply agreement was not exclusive and did not tie the sale of any product to another product.
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August 29, 2024
2nd Circ. Allows Google Advertisers To Wait To Appeal Loss
The Second Circuit on Wednesday allowed a group of Massachusetts-based gym and spa businesses to drop their challenge of an order tossing their antitrust claims from multidistrict litigation accusing Google of monopolizing digital advertising, but permitted them to refile it once the trial judge decides the MDL's remaining claims.
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August 29, 2024
Comer Tells PBMs To Correct Record On Role In Drug Pricing
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, is demanding that the heads of three major pharmacy benefit managers "correct the record" on their testimony made before his committee in July about their roles in drug pricing, including company claims that the PBMs don't steer customers to in-house pharmacies and that they allow non-affiliated pharmacies to negotiate contracts.
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August 29, 2024
NLRB Partners With Other Feds In Merger Probes
The National Labor Relations Board said it's teaming up with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate mergers that present competition concerns for workers.
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August 29, 2024
Nektar Can't Get Docs It Says Show Lilly As 'Thieves, Liars'
A California federal judge Thursday rejected Nektar Therapeutics' request for internal Eli Lilly documents related to separate litigation as Nektar pursues allegations Eli Lilly ruined prospects for a drug the companies were developing together despite Nektar's counsel saying it would "expose Lilly for being thieves, liars."
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August 29, 2024
DOJ Calls Former Googler's Ad Tech Testimony 'Essential'
The U.S. Department of Justice urged a Virginia federal judge Wednesday not to let former Google vice presidents and other company managers avoid testifying at next month's advertising technology monopolization trial, arguing their testimony is important and was properly subpoenaed.
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August 29, 2024
Albright Boots $8B EV Trade Secrets Suit For Improper Venue
U.S. District Judge Alan Albright tossed out a $7.8 billion trade secrets dispute between two electric vehicle companies, adopting a federal magistrate judge's recommendation that the case should be handled in Israel where he said both companies and the majority of the individuals related to the matter already are.
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August 29, 2024
JPMorgan Says Ex-Adviser Poached Clients Worth $13M
JPMorgan Chase has accused a former adviser of attempting to solicit clients for Wells Fargo, an effort JPMorgan alleged has so far been successful in converting 16 clients worth $13 million to its competitor.
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August 29, 2024
FTC Wants Kroger's Constitution Suit To Follow Merger Case
The Federal Trade Commission is sparring with Kroger over where, and when, to handle the grocery giant's constitutional counterattack to the FTC's merger challenge, with the agency teeing up a bid to move the company's Ohio federal court suit to Oregon, where it's defending the proposed Albertsons purchase.
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August 29, 2024
4th Circ. Says CSX's Norfolk Southern Case Came Too Late
The Fourth Circuit ruled Thursday that CSX's antitrust case against Norfolk Southern over "exclusionary" fees charged by a Virginia switching line they jointly own was filed outside the statute of limitations.
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August 29, 2024
Nippon Pledges $1.3B For US Steel In Quest For US Approval
Nippon Steel Corp. has pledged to inject an additional $1.3 billion into United States Steel Corp. facilities as the Japanese company looks to get over the finish line with U.S. regulators on its controversial $14.9 billion merger proposal.
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August 29, 2024
Nasdaq To Pay $22M CFTC Fine Over Incentive Program
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission slapped Nasdaq Futures Inc. with a $22 million fine Thursday based on allegations that the now-shuttered derivatives exchange failed to disclose an incentive program for high-volume traders.
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August 29, 2024
Marathon Oil Stockholders Approve $23B ConocoPhillips Deal
Marathon Oil Corp. said Thursday it has received the necessary stockholder approval for its pending $22.5 billion merger with ConocoPhillips, as the companies race to get the deal done amid an ongoing U.S. regulatory review.
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August 28, 2024
Merck Must Face Class Claims In Vaccine Antitrust Suit
Merck cannot strike class claims in antitrust litigation over its rotavirus vaccine, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled Wednesday, while also allowing the city of Baltimore to eliminate redundancies in its complaint.
Expert Analysis
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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Inside Antitrust Agencies' Rollup And Serial Acquisition Moves
The recent request for public comments on serial acquisitions and rollup strategies from the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Justice Department mark the antitrust agencies' continued focus on actions that fall below premerger reporting thresholds, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Rare Robinson-Patman Ruling Exhibits Key Antitrust Risk
A rare federal court decision under the Robinson-Patman Act, which prohibits certain kinds of price discrimination, highlights the antitrust risks faced by certain suppliers and is likely to be cited by future plaintiffs and enforcement officials calling for renewed scrutiny of pricing and discounting practices, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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Takeaways From Nat'l Security Division's Historic Declination
The Justice Department National Security Division's recent decision not to prosecute a biochemical company for an employee's export control violation marks its first declination under a new corporate enforcement policy, sending a clear message to companies that self-disclosure of misconduct may confer material benefits, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Wiretap Use In Cartel Probes Likely To Remain An Exception
Although the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division has recently signaled interest in wiretaps, the use of this technology to capture evidence of antitrust conspiracies and pursue monopolization as a criminal matter has been rare historically, and is likely to remain so, say Carsten Reichel and Will Conway at DLA Piper.
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Playing The Odds: Criminal Charges Related To Sports Betting
In light of recent sports betting scandals involving MLB player Shohei Ohtani and NBA player Jontay Porter, institutions and individuals involved in athletics should be aware of and prepared to address the legal issues, including potential criminal charges, that sports gambling may bring to their door, say attorneys at Steptoe.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.
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Key FCC Enforcement Issues In AT&T Location Data Appeal
AT&T’s decision to challenge a $57 million fine from the Federal Communications Commission for its alleged treatment of customer location information highlights interesting and fundamental issues about the constitutionality of FCC enforcement, say Patrick O’Donnell and Jason Neal at HWG.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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What TikTok's Race Against The Clock Teaches Chinese Firms
The Biden administration's recent divestiture deadline on TikTok parent ByteDance provides useful information for other China-based companies looking to do business in the U.S., including the need to keep products for each market separate and implement firewalls at the design stage, says Richard Lomuscio at Stinson.
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Updated Federal Rules Can Improve Product Liability MDLs
The recent amendment of a federal evidence rule regarding expert testimony and the proposal of a civil rule on managing early discovery in multidistrict legislation hold great promise for promoting the uniform and efficient processes that high-stakes product liability cases particularly need, say Alan Klein and William Heaston at Duane Morris.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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Live Nation May Shake It Off In A Long Game With The DOJ
Don't expect a swift resolution in the U.S. Department of Justice's case against Live Nation, but a long litigation, with the company likely to represent itself as the creator of a competitive ecosystem, and the government faced with explaining how the ticketing giant formed under its watch, say Thomas Kliebhan and Taylor Hixon at GRSM50.
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NCAA Settlement May End The NIL Model As We Know It
The recent House v. NCAA settlement in California federal court, in which the NCAA agreed to allow schools to directly pay March Madness television revenue to their athletes, may send outside name, image and likeness collectives in-house, says Mike Ingersoll at Womble Bond.