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Competition
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August 09, 2024
Restoration Worker Can't Shake Employment Deal Claims
North Carolina's Business Court has pared down a lawsuit between a restoration company and a former employee centered on allegations of breaking employment agreements and misusing licenses, with the court ruling most of the worker's claims had to be tossed, while some of the company's accusations can head toward trial.
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August 09, 2024
4 Firms Guiding Italian IT Firm Almaviva's $335M Iteris Buy
Italian digital innovation group Almaviva S.p.A. has agreed to purchase Austin, Texas-based infrastructure management provider Iteris Inc. for approximately $335 million equity value, Iteris said in a statement Friday.
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August 09, 2024
Wash. AG Says Kroger Refusing To Delay Merger For Ruling
The Washington Attorney General's Office told a state court that Kroger will not agree to put off closing its planned merger with Albertsons until after a final ruling in the state's merger challenge, but the companies say they've already agreed not to finalize the deal until litigation plays out in another state.
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August 09, 2024
Highway Contractor, Exec Charged With $100M Price-Fixing
Federal prosecutors announced the indictment of an Oklahoma highway runoff contracting business and two of its employees for their involvement in a price-fixing, bid-rigging and market allocation conspiracy that impacted over $100 million in publicly funded construction contracts in the state.
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August 09, 2024
Ads Group Nixes Anti-Hate Initiative Days After Musk Suit
The World Federation of Advertisers is pulling the plug on an initiative aimed at avoiding advertising next to hate speech and other "illegal or harmful content," days after drawing a lawsuit from Elon Musk's X Corp. calling the program an anticompetitive group boycott.
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August 09, 2024
Full 2nd Circ. Axes Producer's Bid To Revive Blacklisting Suit
The Second Circuit won't take a second whack at its ruling that a stage workers union can't be held liable under antitrust laws for discouraging members from working with a Broadway producer following complaints about unpaid wages.
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August 09, 2024
News Corp. Mulls Sale Of Australia's Foxtel Group
Media conglomerate News Corp. disclosed in its fourth-quarter earnings report that it is entertaining external interest in its majority-owned Foxtel Group, the Australian pay television company that provides cable, satellite and on-demand television services.
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August 09, 2024
Off The Bench: NCAA Antitrust Woes, Ohio Trans Sports Ban
In this week's Off The Bench, the NCAA still faces pushback from athletes after an NIL settlement, transgender youth athletes in Ohio lost their legislative battle, and the Seventh Circuit set an insurance broker straight on its actions in an NFL team's settlement with a former player.
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August 09, 2024
Ex-Mayer Brown Product Liability Atty Joins King & Spalding
King & Spalding LLP has hired a former Mayer Brown LLP partner for its product liability and mass torts practice group in New York.
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August 08, 2024
Investors, Banks Pitch Next Steps In Saved Bond-Rigging Suit
Investors accusing major banks of conspiring to rig corporate bonds have told a New York federal court they want to file a new complaint after the Second Circuit revived the suit last month over a potential conflict with the previous judge, while the defendants say this would take the case "back to square one."
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August 08, 2024
Calif. Yacht Group Urges Toss Of Fee Antitrust Suit In Fla.
The California Yacht Brokers Association has urged a Florida federal court to toss a proposed class action alleging that it's part of a scheme to inflate boat sales fees, saying it's not violating the Sherman Antitrust Act because the Golden State allows commission sharing and requires sellers to pay for buyer representation.
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August 08, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Rethink OK'ing Ad Class Cert. Against Meta
The Ninth Circuit refused Thursday to rethink a split panel decision affirming certification of a damages class of potentially millions of advertisers who were allegedly deceived about Facebook's "potential reach" tool, rejecting Meta Platforms Inc.'s warnings of unchecked fraud class actions.
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August 08, 2024
Amazon Must Face Pandemic Price-Gouging Claims In Wash.
Washington's high court said on Thursday that Amazon can be sued under the state's Consumer Protection Act over alleged price-gouging early in the COVID-19 pandemic, but stopped short of agreeing with customers that the law bars specific markup percentages.
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August 08, 2024
Ark. Racing Commission Wants Out Of Licensing Dispute
The Arkansas Racing Commission wants out of a dispute between a Mississippi casino operator and two Cherokee Nation entities over a gambling license, saying it has nothing to do with an economic development agreement at the center of the litigation.
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August 08, 2024
Apple Must Produce Docs In Epic Antitrust Fight By Sept. 30
A California federal judge overseeing discovery in Epic Games' antitrust compliance fight with Apple gave the iPhone-maker a Sept. 30 deadline to hand over documentation on its response to foreign antitrust regulations and other internal documents, rejecting Apple's suggested December deadline and calling the 92,000-document review large but "not huge."
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August 08, 2024
Google Says Epic's Own Tech Experts Undermine Remedies
Google continued Wednesday to battle what it says would be a dramatic and costly overhaul of its Play Store if Epic Games is allowed to dictate the terms of an antitrust remedy, telling a California federal judge claims of a cheaper, easier solution are undermined by Epic's own experts.
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August 08, 2024
DOJ Investigating Formula 1 Over Andretti Denial
Formula One's owner Liberty Media Corp. disclosed Thursday that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating antitrust concerns surrounding the denial of Andretti Formula Racing LLC's bid to join the F1's championship series, following a letter from lawmakers.
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August 08, 2024
Colo. Trailer Dealership Says Would-Be Buyer Infringed TM
A Colorado trailer dealership is accusing a competitor that purportedly tried to buy its business of changing its public name to one confusingly similar to the dealership's registered trademark after the acquisition offer was rejected for being "much less than plaintiff's business was worth."
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August 08, 2024
Wilson Sonsini, A&O Shearman Guide $688M Biotech Merger
Salt Lake City-based Recursion said Thursday it has inked a deal to purchase fellow drug design and development company Exscientia for approximately $688 million, under the guidance of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC.
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August 08, 2024
Dechert Says Merger Abandonments Are Way Up This Year
In what's shaping up to be a banner year for antitrust enforcers, U.S. merger abandonments hit historic levels in the first half of 2024, according to a new report from Dechert LLP.
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August 08, 2024
FTC Tells 9th Circ. Booksellers Don't Belong In Amazon Case
The Federal Trade Commission and Amazon both urged the Ninth Circuit not to allow a trade association for independent bookstores to intervene in the government's antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, saying the group's claims are too different.
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August 08, 2024
Exec Admits Price-Fixing $100M Of Rebar For Storm Rebuild
The U.S. Department of Justice announced the guilty plea Wednesday of a former Puerto Rico steel distributor executive who admitted to fixing prices on rebar used for post-hurricane reconstruction, in a conspiracy that impacted more than $100 million in his company's sales.
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August 08, 2024
Funder Nera Capital Buys 50,000 Spanish Car Cartel Claims
Litigation funder Nera Capital has bought 50,000 claims for compensation valued at an estimated €1 billion ($1.1 billion) over a Spanish auto cartel involving many of the largest vehicle manufacturers in the world, including General Motors and Honda.
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August 08, 2024
Barratt, Redrow To Engage With CMA Over Deal Concerns
Barratt Developments PLC and Redrow PLC said in a joint statement Thursday that they will address concerns raised by the Competition and Markets Authority regarding Barratt's planned takeover of its rival homebuilder for £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion).
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August 08, 2024
UK Launches Formal Probe Into Amazon's $4B AI Investment
Britain's antitrust authority launched a formal probe on Thursday into Amazon's $4 billion investment in Anthropic, a U.S. artificial intelligence startup, as it seeks to establish whether it could harm competition in U.K. markets.
Expert Analysis
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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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Roundup
After Chevron
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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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.