Competition

  • September 05, 2024

    CFPB Flags Rental Price-Fixing As Among FDCPA Concerns

    In a Sept. 5 report to Congress, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said rent-setting algorithms of the sort used by RealPage could amount to price-fixing, making efforts to collect on inflated rental debt a violation of federal law.

  • September 05, 2024

    Shoemaker Can't Avoid Birkenstock's Copycat Suit

    A Massachusetts-based shoemaker and its manufacturer must face almost every intellectual property claim brought against it by Birkenstock after a federal judge declined to dismiss all but one claim in the popular brand's suit alleging design patent, trademark and trade dress infringement.

  • September 05, 2024

    DOJ And Google Set For Trial, Again, This Time Over Ad Tech

    The U.S. Department of Justice is up Monday for its second high-stakes trial against Google in a year, going after the alleged monopolization of key digital advertising technology in Virginia federal court.

  • September 05, 2024

    Flyers Denied $34M Fee For JetBlue, Spirit Deal Challenge

    Airline passengers who launched an antitrust lawsuit over JetBlue's since-scrapped plan to merge with Spirit won't recoup any of the $34 million in legal fees they urged a Massachusetts federal court to award because the travelers can't be considered to have won on their claims, a federal judge in Boston said Thursday.

  • September 05, 2024

    Ill. Judge Exits Home Sellers' Broker Fees Antitrust Suit

    An Illinois federal judge has recused herself from a certified and settled class action that accused the National Association of Realtors and multiple major brokerages of conspiring to charge artificially inflated broker commissions for home sellers.

  • September 05, 2024

    Veteran Biz Lawyer Set To Mediate NCAA Prize Money Fight

    The National Collegiate Athletic Association and University of North Carolina tennis player Reese Brantmeier have jointly agreed to have veteran Tarheel State business litigator Ray Owens mediate their dispute over the organization's limits on athletes receiving prize money from outside competitions.

  • September 05, 2024

    Ticketmaster Faces UK Probe Over Oasis Tour Sales

    The competition watchdog said Thursday it has launched an investigation into Ticketmaster over concerns that it duped fans of Oasis into paying higher prices for their tickets to the rock band's scheduled reunion concerts using so-called dynamic pricing.

  • September 05, 2024

    UK Probes Acerinox's $800M Bid For Haynes International

    Britain's antitrust authority said Thursday that it has launched a formal investigation into the planned $798 million takeover by stainless steel manufacturer Acerinox of Haynes International, which makes alloys, to assess whether the deal would weaken domestic competition.

  • September 04, 2024

    Albertsons CEO Takes Stand On Kroger Merger, Missing Texts

    Federal Trade Commision attorneys on Wednesday pressed Albertsons Cos. Inc. CEO Vivek Sankaran in Oregon federal court about why he had such dire predictions about the company's future without a merger with Kroger despite previous statements about how his company had been crushing the competition.

  • September 04, 2024

    Nonsolicits Don't Need Geographic Terms, Ga. Justices Say

    The Supreme Court of Georgia said on Wednesday that restrictive covenants don't need to contain an explicit territorial component for them to be deemed reasonable under state law, reviving a marketing organization's attempt to enforce a nonsolicitation provision in its contracts with independent agents.

  • September 04, 2024

    Cheer Parents Request $35M In Fees, Costs For Antitrust Deal

    Three moms that reached an $82.5 million settlement with Varsity Brands in litigation claiming the cheerleading giant stifled competition and raised participation costs asked a Tennessee federal court Wednesday for $35 million of that fund to pay their attorneys' fees and costs.

  • September 04, 2024

    Towns Say Settlement Doesn't Limit Rail Merger Appeal

    A coalition of Illinois towns challenging the approval of Canadian Pacific's $31 billion merger with Kansas City Southern told the D.C. Circuit the federal government is trying to use a settlement struck by Chicago's commuter rail system to limit the issues in the case.

  • September 04, 2024

    Market Realities On, Merger Reviews Off Table In Ad Tech Trial

    A Virginia federal judge put slight limits Wednesday on the evidence the U.S. Justice Department and Google LLC can present in next week's advertising technology monopolization suit, allowing Google to push its own views of the market but limiting its ability to bring up past merger reviews.

  • September 04, 2024

    NC Biz Court Bulletin: Blackbeard IP Fight, Firm Data Breach

    As summer winds down, the North Carolina Business Court tackled usage rights pertaining to footage and artifacts from Blackbeard's shipwreck while grappling with uncovering the details of a cyberattack that exposed the data of Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP. In case you missed those and others, here are the highlights.

  • September 04, 2024

    OpenAI Wants News Org.'s Copyright Suit Cut To Core Issue

    OpenAI has asked a New York federal judge to dismiss multiple claims from a copyright suit brought against it and Microsoft Corp. by the Center for Investigative Reporting Inc., arguing the case should be pared down to the "core issue" of how the fair use doctrine applies to artificial intelligence training.

  • September 04, 2024

    Glenmark Will Pay $25M To End Feds' Price-Fixing Suit

    Glenmark Pharmaceuticals USA will pay $25 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by conspiring to fix the price of a generic high cholesterol drug, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

  • September 04, 2024

    NJ Health System Wins Access To Fraud File In Antitrust Fight

    A New Jersey federal judge Wednesday allowed health system RWJBarnabas Health Inc. to move ahead with a subpoena on the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation in a case in which RWJBarnabas is accused of antitrust violations by rival health system CarePoint Health Management Associates LLC.

  • September 04, 2024

    PVC Pipe Makers Accused Of Price-Fixing

    A Tennessee farmer has hit the country's biggest PVC pipe manufacturers with a proposed price-fixing class action, claiming that since at least 2021 they've been colluding through a reporting agency to raise prices for consumers.

  • September 04, 2024

    Weil Adds Longtime FTC Mergers Assistant Director In DC

    An almost 19-year veteran of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission who helped lead a group of attorneys focused on mergers has moved to private practice, joining Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP as an antitrust partner in the nation's capital, the firm announced Wednesday.

  • September 11, 2024

    Hausfeld Snaps Up Litigation Pro From Covington In London

    Hausfeld LLP has hired a partner from Covington & Burling LLP in London to boost its profile in commercial disputes, after its office in the U.K. capital recently underwent changes in leadership.

  • September 04, 2024

    US Steel, Nippon Defend Deal After VP Harris Voices Concern

    U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel on Wednesday reiterated the value they see in their planned $14.9 billion merger, despite opposition voiced by Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

  • September 04, 2024

    Microsoft Hiring Of Inflection AI Team Too Small To Worry UK

    The U.K.'s antitrust regulator said Wednesday it has ended its probe into Microsoft's hiring of Inflection AI staff, finding the U.S. machine learning specialist's operation was too small to trigger competition concerns.

  • September 04, 2024

    EU Scrambles To Close Competition Gap After Illumina Ruling

    The Europe Union's highest court has left the bloc's antitrust authorities struggling to find a way to close an enforcement gap that could make it easier for dominant companies to neutralize startups with its decision that the European Commission had no authority to probe Illumina’s $8 billion acquisition of Grail.

  • September 03, 2024

    Louisiana Frees Aurobindo, Sandoz From Price-Fixing Suits

    The state of Louisiana has dropped its remaining claims in three Connecticut-based lawsuits by a collection of state attorneys general against more than three dozen pharmaceutical companies alleging a generic drug price-fixing scheme, truncating assertions that accuse myriad drugmakers of Sherman Act violations.

  • September 03, 2024

    Energy Leasholders' RICO, Antitrust Suit Tossed After 9 Years

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by oil and gas leaseholders seeking $5 billion in damages for antitrust and racketeering violations, finding that the leaseholders lacked standing or hadn't adequately made their case for any of the suit.

Expert Analysis

  • Exploring Alternatives To Noncompetes Ahead Of FTC Ban

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    Ahead of the Sept. 4 effective date for the Federal Trade Commission's noncompete ban, employers should seek new ways to protect their proprietary and other sensitive information, including by revising existing confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements, says Harvey Linder at Culhane.

  • A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence

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    The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

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    To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?

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    Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • A Look At M&A Conditions After FTC's Exxon-Pioneer Nod

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent consent decree imposing several conditions on Exxon Mobil's acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources helps illustrate key points about the current merger enforcement environment, including the probability of further investigations in the energy and pharmaceutical sectors, say Ryan Quillian and John Kendrick at Covington.

  • Attys Beware 2 Commonly Overlooked NIL Contract Issues

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    As name, image and likeness deals dominate high school and collegiate sports, preserving a client's NCAA eligibility should be a top priority, so lawyers should understand the potentially damaging contract provisions they may encounter when reviewing an agreement, says Paula Nagarajan at Arnall Golden.

  • FTC Theories Of Harm After Anesthesia Co. Ruling

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    As Federal Trade Commission litigation against U.S. Anesthesia Partners proceeds following a Texas federal court's recent decision to dismiss a private equity sponsor from the suit, the case attempts to incorporate and advance some of the commission's theories of competitive harm from the final 2023 Merger Guidelines, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • FTC Focus: Exploring The Meaning Of Orange Book Letters

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    The Federal Trade Commission recently announced an expansion of its campaign to promote competition by targeting pharmaceutical manufacturers' improper Orange Book patent listings, but there is a question of whether and how this helps generic entrants, say Colin Kass and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.

  • How Employers, Attorneys Can Respond To Noncompete Ban

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    As the Federal Trade Commission's recently issued noncompete ban faces ongoing legal challenges, now is a good time for employers to consider whether they want to take a wait-and-see approach before halting use of noncompetes and for practitioners to gain insight into other tools available to protect their clients' business interests, says Jennifer Platzkere Snyder at Dilworth Paxson.

  • Perspectives

    Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys

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    As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.

  • Series

    Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.

  • How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case

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    The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.

  • The Effects Of New 10-Year Limitation On Key Sanctions Laws

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    Recently enacted emergency appropriations legislation, doubling the statute of limitations for civil and criminal economic sanctions violations, has significant implications for internal records retention, corporate transaction due diligence and government investigations, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Opinion

    DOJ Messaging App Warnings Undermine Trust In Counsel

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    The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division's increasingly ominous warnings to defense and in-house counsel about the consequences of not preserving ephemeral messaging and messages sent using collaboration tools could erode confidence and cooperation, says Mark Rosman at Proskauer.

  • Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content

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    From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.

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