Competition

  • November 05, 2024

    Texas Rebar Giant CMC Hit With $110M Antitrust Verdict

    A California federal jury hit Commercial Metals Co. with a $110 million antitrust verdict on Tuesday, finding the Texas rebar giant liable for multiple antitrust violations and awarding Pacific Steel Group millions of dollars in lost profits and other damages.

  • November 05, 2024

    DC Circ. Wary Of FTC Changes To $5B Meta Privacy Deal

    The Federal Trade Commission faced a skeptical D.C. Circuit panel Tuesday in its bid to modify a $5 billion privacy deal with Meta, with judges questioning why any private company would settle with the agency if the deal could later be reopened.

  • November 05, 2024

    FTC Defends Noncompete Ban In 11th Circ. Appeal

    The Federal Trade Commission told the Eleventh Circuit the agency is authorized to make rules like the one banning the use of employee noncompetes and argued that a lower court was wrong to block the commission from enforcing the rule against a retirement community.

  • November 05, 2024

    Hagens Berman Defends Bid To Ditch AWOL Apple Suit Client

    A Washington federal judge expressed skepticism on Tuesday that Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP was within its rights to substitute a proposed class representative in an antitrust case against Amazon and Apple earlier this year when the lead plaintiff stopped communicating with the firm.

  • November 05, 2024

    Amazon Bashes Wash. Supreme Court's Price-Gouging Ruling

    Amazon urged a Washington federal judge Monday to toss an updated proposed consumer class action alleging price gouging during the pandemic, saying the claims remain overly broad and the Washington Supreme Court's interpretation of the state's consumer protection law is unconstitutionally vague.

  • November 05, 2024

    Meta Ruling Will Fuel Class Actions, Chamber Warns Justices

    Business organizations are backing Meta's appeal of a Ninth Circuit ruling upholding damages class certification for a group of Meta advertisers claiming they were misled about Facebook's ad tools, with the industry outfits telling the U.S. Supreme Court that the Ninth Circuit is out of sync with other circuits on class questions.

  • November 05, 2024

    Thermo Fisher Antitrust Counsel Returns To Ropes & Gray

    A former Ropes & Gray LLP attorney has returned to the firm after a stint in-house at Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., strengthening the firm's antitrust practice.

  • November 05, 2024

    GOP Sens. Say NTIA 'Distorting' US Broadband Access

    Senate Republicans are accusing Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris of "manipulating census data" to conceal the number of people using satellite internet, in their latest attack on the Biden administration and Harris, who they have dubbed the "broadband czar."

  • November 05, 2024

    1st Circ. Doubts Nantucket Has Immunity To Cap Rental Cars

    A First Circuit panel on Tuesday appeared open to reviving a challenge to a Nantucket bylaw that limits the number of licenses for rental cars on the vacation getaway, suggesting the policy is not immune under federal antitrust laws.

  • November 05, 2024

    Georgia Man To Appeal Concrete Bid-Rigging Conviction

    A Georgia man who, alongside his brother, was found guilty this summer of involvement in a scheme that fixed prices and rigged bids for tens of millions of dollars of ready-mix concrete contracts said Monday that he plans to appeal his conviction to the Eleventh Circuit.

  • November 05, 2024

    On The Ground: How Attorneys Safeguarded The Election

    Attorneys worked tirelessly Tuesday to support citizens and election workers on the final day of voting in one of history's most contentious presidential contests.

  • November 05, 2024

    UK Could Clear £16.5B Vodafone-Three Deal After Fixes

    The Competition and Markets Authority said Tuesday that it could wave through a proposed £16.5 billion ($21.4 billion) merger between Vodafone Group PLC and the telecommunications networks of Three UK if they commit to investing in infrastructure and protecting customers.

  • November 04, 2024

    NCAA Baseball Coaches Seek Class Cert. In Wage-Fix Case

    Division I volunteer baseball coaches asked a California federal judge to certify their proposed antitrust class action challenging the NCAA's since-repealed "uniform wage fix" bylaw that paid volunteer coaches nothing, which prevented them from getting compensated their market value for their services.

  • November 04, 2024

    BofA Unit Escapes Trading Firm's Spoofing Suit For Now

    An Illinois federal judge has tossed a trading firm's proposed class action claiming that a Bank of America unit manipulated markets for U.S. Treasury futures and options, ruling that the firm fails to allege actual damages, but giving it an opportunity to amend the suit.

  • November 04, 2024

    'Don't Cut Corners, Counsel,' Judge In $110M Trial Warns

    A California federal judge delayed rebuttal arguments in Pacific Steel Group's $110 million antitrust trial against rebar giant Commercial Metals Co. Monday after PSG complained that CMC's closings misled jurors about the standard for harm, saying the issue threw "a complete wrench" into the trial and warning CMC, "Don't cut corners, counsel."

  • November 04, 2024

    Michael Jordan's NASCAR Team Asks To Keep Racing In 2025

    Two racing teams fought Monday in a North Carolina federal courthouse for what they characterized as a "modest, targeted" injunction that would allow them to keep racing next season while pursuing antitrust claims against NASCAR, with celebrity owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin sitting courtside for the occasion.

  • November 04, 2024

    'Oh, Come On': 5th Circ. Doubts Intuit Ads Misled Consumers

    The Fifth Circuit on Monday seemed skeptical that the company behind TurboTax duped customers into thinking they could file their tax returns for free, with judges engaging in a lengthy back-and-forth with the Federal Trade Commission over how noticeable disclosures on the ads had to be for the agency to consider them truthful.

  • November 04, 2024

    Google Looks To Toss Rumble's Search Antitrust Case

    Google told a California federal court there's no need for a trial in Rumble's antitrust case accusing it of rigging its search results to favor YouTube over the rival video-sharing site, saying the tech giant applies its search algorithms consistently across all webpages.

  • November 04, 2024

    Finance Cos. Can't Prove Trade Secret Theft, Conn. Court Told

    A Connecticut financial adviser denied stealing trade secrets from his former firm and improperly accessing its computer systems after he resigned to run his own company, telling a state court that his onetime employer and its affiliates cannot prove the allegations in a lawsuit they brought against him.

  • November 04, 2024

    Microsoft Wants To Weigh In On Google Play Store Challenge

    Microsoft has asked the Ninth Circuit to allow it to file an amicus brief backing Epic Games in Google's challenge to an injunction requiring Google to open up its Play Store to competing app stores, arguing that the search giant's policies have prevented Microsoft from offering "mobile gaming experiences customers want."

  • November 04, 2024

    Amazon Says DC Antitrust Suit Full Of 'Mischaracterizations'

    Amazon hit back Friday against the District of Columbia's amended antitrust complaint, arguing that the business practices the city claims are diminishing competition and inflating prices for consumers are actually doing the opposite — rewarding competition — and claiming that retail competition is "vigorous" both online and in person.

  • November 04, 2024

    Door Factory Buyer Wants To Defend Deal In Antitrust Case

    The proposed buyer of a door-skin manufacturing plant asked a Virginia federal court for permission to intervene in the private antitrust case that led to a landmark order forcing Jeld-Wen to unload the factory.

  • November 04, 2024

    Top Swimming Body Wants 9th Circ. Redo In Antitrust Case

    Swimming's international governing body has asked the Ninth Circuit to rethink a decision that revived a pair of lawsuits brought by a trio of swimmers and a swimming league claiming the governing body's boycott violated antitrust laws.

  • November 04, 2024

    FSU's Suit In Fla. Won't Be Paused For Related ACC Suit In NC

    A Florida appellate panel on Monday denied the Atlantic Coast Conference's bid to halt Florida State University's grant-of-rights contractual lawsuit, saying a lower court didn't have to solely rely on the determination that the conference's action in North Carolina was anticipatory.

  • November 04, 2024

    Patent Co. Looks To Combine Antitrust Case With Consumers

    Patent-holding company VoIP-Pal.com is asking a D.C. federal judge to consolidate, at least for pre-trial purposes, its own Wi-Fi calling antitrust suit against Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile with a proposed class action it launched making many of the same claims.

Expert Analysis

  • Why India May Become A Major Patent Litigation Forum

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    India is reinventing itself with the goal of becoming a global hot spot for patent litigation, with recent developments at the Delhi High Court creating incentives for plaintiffs to assert patent rights in India, say Ranganath Sudarshan at Covington and IP litigator Udit Sood.

  • Court Denial Of $335M UFC Deal Sets Bold Antitrust Precedent

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    A Nevada federal court’s recent refusal to accept a $335 million deal between Ultimate Fighting Championship and a group of former fighters to settle claims of anticompetitive conduct was a rare decision that risks the floodgates opening on established antitrust case law, says Mohit Pasricha at Lawrence Stephens.

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

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    Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.

  • FTC Focus: What Access To Patent Settlements Would Mean

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    Settling parties should adopt a series of practice tips, including specifying rationales to support specific terms, as the Federal Trade Commission seeks to expand its access to settlements before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, say Shannon McGowan and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

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    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

  • Bayer Antitrust Case Hinged On Evolving Market Definition

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    Generic flea and tick medication manufacturer Tevra's evolving market definition played a key role in the development and outcome of its five-year antitrust litigation against Bayer Healthcare, highlighting challenges that litigants may face when a proposed definition is assessed at trial, say Amy Vegari and Colleen Anderson at Patterson Belknap.

  • NYC Wage Info Bill Highlights Rise In Pay Transparency Laws

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    With New York City the latest to mull requiring companies to annually report employee wage data, national employers should consider adapting their compliance practices to comply with increasingly common pay transparency and disclosure obligations at state and local levels, says Kelly Cardin at Littler Mendelson.

  • IP Hot Topic: The Intersection Of Trademark And Antitrust Law

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    Antitrust claims – like those in the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent case against Apple – are increasingly influencing trademark disputes and enforcement practices, demonstrating how antitrust law can dilute the power of a trademark, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

  • Opinion

    Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process

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    Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.

  • Series

    After Chevron: What To Expect In Consumer Protection At FTC

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    Although the Federal Trade Commission's bread-and-butter consumer protection law enforcement actions are unlikely to be affected, the Loper Bright decision may curb the FTC's bolder interpretations of the statutes it enforces, says Mary Engle at BBB National Programs.

  • RealPage Suit Shows Growing Algorithm, AI Pricing Scrutiny

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's suit against RealPage for helping fix rental rates, filed last week, demonstrates how the use of algorithmic and artificial intelligence tools to assist with pricing decisions is drawing increasing scrutiny and action across government agencies, and specifically at the Federal Trade Commission and the DOJ, say Andre Geverola and Leah Harrell at Arnold & Porter.

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