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Competition
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July 22, 2024
Midyear Report: Surveying Vast NCAA Litigation Landscape
While the NCAA has never been a stranger to high-stakes litigation, the past six months have seen a deluge of courtroom intrigue as college athletes flex their legal muscle amid a quickly shifting consensus on the organization's overall business model.
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July 22, 2024
Former Judge On Trump Assassination Attempt Panel
A former federal judge who previously sat on an oversight panel for the Secret Service was among those the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced on Sunday would conduct an independent review of the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
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July 22, 2024
SEC Launches Multiagency Fraud Council
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that it is creating the Interagency Securities Council, which will bring together federal, state and local regulatory and law enforcement professionals quarterly to discuss the latest in "scams, trends, frauds, and mitigation strategies."
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July 22, 2024
UK Ends DJ Equipment Merger Probe As Parties Ditch Deal
The antitrust regulator of the U.K. said Monday that it has canceled its probe into DJ equipment maker AlphaTheta's proposed acquisition of audio technology company Serato, after the audio entertainment companies abandoned the deal.
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July 22, 2024
Hoka Accused Of Fixing Retail Prices As Trial Kicks Off
A British running shoe store chain on Monday accused the sneaker maker behind Hoka of fixing retail prices by blocking the seller from using an online discount store, kicking off its trial at the U.K.'s specialist antitrust tribunal.
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July 19, 2024
Jazz Says Narcolepsy Drug Charge MDL Should Be Tossed
Jazz Pharmaceuticals urged a California federal judge to toss claims from insurers and consumers pursuing multidistrict litigation accusing the drugmaker of staving off generic competition to its blockbuster narcolepsy medicine Xyrem through antitrust conduct and deals with other drugmakers, saying the company engaged in "permissible competition."
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July 19, 2024
NFL Antitrust Verdict, WWE Chair Woes Define 2024's 1st Half
The first half of 2024 saw bombshell allegations and yearslong litigation lurching forward, highlighted by the shocking lawsuit accusing the founder of WWE of horrific sexual conduct, an iconic magazine almost shuttering and two NFL cases reaching significant milestones.
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July 19, 2024
Capital One Critics Lobby To Block 'No Good' Discover Deal
Critics of Capital One's planned $35 billion purchase of Discover Financial Services urged federal regulators on Friday to withhold approval for the tie-up, rejecting a landmark community benefits pledge for the merger as a fig leaf for what they said is really a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad" megadeal.
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July 19, 2024
FTC Wants To Block Kroger & Albertsons' 'Principal Defense'
Federal Trade Commission staffers want to block Kroger and Albertsons from using their main defense to an in-house merger challenge — the plan to sell off 579 stores — or otherwise force the companies to produce documents so far protected as privileged, according to a recently public filing.
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July 19, 2024
Judge Tosses Traders' Counterclaims In Trade Secrets Case
A Manhattan federal judge has ruled that Millennium Management LLC and two of its employees cannot yet use the federal trade secrets law to claim attorney fees with their allegation that investment firm Jane Street Group LLC sued them in bad faith over a proprietary trading strategy.
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July 19, 2024
Kroger Could Delay Merger Closing To Avoid Colo. Hearing
Kroger Co. told a Colorado state judge Friday that it is negotiating a potential agreement with the state to delay the closing date for its proposed merger with Albertsons until November or after the court rules on a permanent injunction, a proposal the grocer said was aimed at avoiding a hearing next month.
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July 19, 2024
Boehringer Looks To Toss Inhaler Antitrust Case
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. urged a Massachusetts federal court to toss a proposed class action accusing it of blocking generic versions of two inhaler medications, saying it has valid patents protecting the products.
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July 19, 2024
Elite Schools' $284M Aid-Fixing Deals Get Final OK
An Illinois federal judge on Friday granted his final signoff to $284 million worth of settlements inked by 10 schools accused in a sprawling antitrust case of working together to limit the financial aid they provided, deeming it a fair and reasonable outcome for the class of students.
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July 19, 2024
What The End Of Chevron Means For FTC Rulemaking
Federal agencies can no longer expect courts to defer to their interpretation of challenged regulatory authorities under a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling the Federal Trade Commission expects will have no "significant impact," but that observers say could help trip up a noncompetes ban and perhaps other efforts.
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July 19, 2024
Temple U.'s Ken Jacobsen On NCAA-House Deal, What's Next
Even with a deal of such size and consequence — approximately $2.8 billion, more than 184,000 athletes in the class, all the Power Five conferences named and with decades of court rulings leading up to it — the settlement over name, image and likeness compensation in the Grant House-led class action against the NCAA is best seen as a beginning, rather than an end.
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July 19, 2024
FTC Eyes Mid-Nov. Texas Hearing Against Mattress Merger
The Federal Trade Commission's case against Tempur Sealy's $4 billion planned Mattress Firm purchase is set to kick off in Texas federal court Nov. 14, the parties told an agency in-house judge Friday during a scheduling hearing.
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July 19, 2024
Axon Says FTC Has 'No Reason' To Wade Into Suit
Axon urged a New Jersey federal judge Thursday to "give no weight" to a Federal Trade Commission amicus intervention into a proposed class action against the company, arguing that however much the FTC bristles at references to an abandoned merger case, that consternation isn't relevant to the instant suit.
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July 19, 2024
Shoemaker Asks Court To Trim Birkenstock Copycat Claim
A judge said Friday that she couldn't tell the difference between several popular styles of Birkenstock sandals and alleged "knockoff" versions made by a New Hampshire company based on photos, signaling potential trouble for the defendant in a trademark infringement lawsuit by the German footwear-maker.
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July 19, 2024
San Francisco Lawmaker Floats Rent Algorithm Software Ban
A San Francisco lawmaker proposed a ban that would prohibit selling or using software that can be used for rent price fixing, and took aim at property management software companies such as RealPage and Yardi for their software allegedly being used for such a purpose.
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July 19, 2024
MLS, US Soccer Can't Get Redo On Antitrust Suit Preservation
A New York federal judge told Major League Soccer and the sport's U.S. governing body that he would not reconsider a previous order that kept alive an antitrust suit against the organizations, but he did offer some of the clarification they were seeking about market definition.
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July 19, 2024
FTC Says Microsoft Price Hike Shows Activision Deal Harm
The Federal Trade Commission told the Ninth Circuit that Microsoft's recently announced Game Pass price increase is an example of the harm caused by the company's $68.7 billion acquisition of game developer Activision Blizzard Inc.
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July 19, 2024
Judge Recuses As Tech Firm Slams Dow Chemical's Request
An Ohio federal judge has recused himself from a trade secrets case brought against Dow Chemical Co. after the technology firm that sued it showed the court a settlement offer without approval that would grant Dow Chemical's recusal motion, which the tech firm said was a "cavalier approach to a drastic remedy."
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July 19, 2024
Occidental Could Sell $3.6B CrownRock Stake To Ecopetrol
Occidental Petroleum said in a securities filing Friday that it could sell a 30% stake in CrownRock — which Occidental is under contract to buy for $12 billion — to Columbia's Ecopetrol for $3.6 billion.
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July 19, 2024
OK Foods, Consumers Reach Deal In Chicken Price-Fixing Suit
Consumers accusing the nation's largest broiler chicken producers of coordinating and limiting chicken production to raise prices have told an Illinois federal judge that they've reached a settlement in principle with O.K. Foods, O.K. Farms and O.K. Industries.
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July 19, 2024
Taxation With Representation: A&O Shearman, Gibson Dunn
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. buys Stelco Holdings Inc., KBR acquires LinQuest Corp., Blue Owl Capital Inc. purchases Atalaya Capital Management LP, and Amphenol Corp. buys two mobile networks units from CommScope.
Expert Analysis
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What UK Digital Markets Act Will Mean For Competition Law
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.
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Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice
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.
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Realtor Settlement May Create New Antitrust Pitfalls
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.
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In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State
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.
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Preparing For CFPB 'Junk Fee' Push Into Mortgage Industry
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.
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How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges
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.
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Series
After Chevron: FTC's 'Unfair Competition' Actions In Jeopardy
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.
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How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts
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.
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Series
Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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Opinion
Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron
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.
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3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron
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.
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Series
After Chevron: Expect Few Changes In ITC Rulemaking
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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Opinion
Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem
The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.
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How Generative AI May Aid Merger Clearance Process
Generative artificial intelligence capable of analyzing and searching large datasets stands to revolutionize the merger clearance process, including by significantly reducing the time and effort required to respond to Hart-Scott-Rodino second requests, say Kenneth Koch and Brian Blush at BDO USA.
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Antitrust In Retail: The Meaning Of 'Accessible Luxury'
In order for the Federal Trade Commission to block a deal that would put six "accessible luxury" brands, including Coach and Michael Kors, under one roof, the agency will need to prove that this category is distinct from the true luxury or mass-market categories, says David Kully at Holland & Knight.