Competition

  • October 17, 2024

    Burford Again Loses Fight Against Meat Price-Fixing Deal

    An Illinois federal judge on Thursday refused for a second time to let a Burford Capital LLC unit unbind itself from a global settlement Pilgrim's Pride and Sysco entered to resolve chicken, pork and beef price-fixing claims.

  • October 17, 2024

    Brothers Get Prison For Ga. Concrete Bid-Rigging Scheme

    A Georgia federal judge on Thursday sentenced brothers Gregory Hall Melton and John David Melton to serve time in prison for their roles in a scheme to fix prices and rig bids for the ready-mix concrete market in the greater Savannah area.

  • October 17, 2024

    DOJ Defends States' Right To Recoup Live Nation Overcharges

    The federal government and 40 states are urging a New York federal court not to trim their antitrust case against Live Nation, arguing that states have the right to go after overcharges customers allegedly paid for concert tickets and also defending a tying claim based on venues and promotion services.

  • October 17, 2024

    MMA Fighter Hits Bellator With $15M Antitrust Suit

    A fighter lodged a $15 million antitrust lawsuit against Bellator, claiming that after it merged with the Professional Fighters League, the mixed martial arts company broke a previous agreement that had guaranteed him a certain amount of bouts and payouts.

  • October 17, 2024

    FTC Admits Federal Court Merger Fights Are Usually Decisive

    Federal Trade Commission complaint counsel has admitted a reality that the agency has long resisted: While federal court preliminary injunction fights are ostensibly meant only to pause a merger while a merits case plays out through an in-house court, the federal court case usually decides the transaction's fate.

  • October 17, 2024

    $20B Verizon-Frontier Deal Faces Scrutiny, And Other Rumors

    A growing list of Frontier Communications' largest shareholders are concerned about its planned $20 billion takeover by Verizon Communications, and a group of former professional athletes are in talks to buy a stake in the NFL's Buffalo Bills. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable rumors from the past week.

  • October 17, 2024

    Google Asks 9th Circ. To Immediately Pause Epic Injunction

    Google filed an emergency motion late Wednesday in its antitrust battle with Epic Games Inc. asking the Ninth Circuit to stay a lower court's injunction that's set to take effect Nov. 1 requiring Google to open up its Play Store to competing app stores, slamming the injunction as harmful and "unworkable."

  • October 17, 2024

    Pa. AG Can't Get State Claims Restored In FTC Amazon Suit

    A federal judge tersely denied a request from Pennsylvania's attorney general, who had sought to reinstate her state's consumer protection claims against Amazon in the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust suit.

  • October 16, 2024

    Airline Owner Can't Force Cravath To Give Docs, Court Says

    Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP doesn't have to turn over documents used in the prosecution of an airline owner accused in a scheme to defraud Polar Air Cargo Worldwide of millions of dollars, a New York federal judge ruled Wednesday, saying the defendant hasn't shown the firm was part of the prosecution.

  • October 16, 2024

    Atty Pressed On DMI Stock Drop Focus In Del. Merger Suit

    A Delaware vice chancellor repeatedly pressed an attorney for shareholders of 3D printer manufacturer The ExOne Co. Wednesday on the relative importance of a stock drop experienced by acquirer Desktop Metal Inc. before and after shareholders voted on a $575 million merger.

  • October 16, 2024

    Banks Ditch Exchange's Boycott Conspiracy Suit At 2nd Circ.

    The Second Circuit on Wednesday rejected a small trading exchange's effort to revive its claims that several major banks conspired to shut it out of the credit default swap market, saying the exchange failed to plausibly allege that the banks' conduct was the result of an unlawful agreement or conspiracy.

  • October 16, 2024

    Utah Judge Tosses Mattress Conspiracy Suit For Good

    A Utah federal court has tossed a lawsuit accusing major mattress companies and a trade group of conspiring to drive a competitor from the market after finding a lack of evidence showing there was an agreement to harm competition and saying the claims can't be fixed.

  • October 16, 2024

    Direct Buyers Get Final OK For $44M Drug Price-Fixing Deal

    A Pennsylvania federal court has granted final approval to $44.4 million in settlements between drugmakers Apotex, Breckenridge and Heritage and direct purchasers in a multidistrict litigation over alleged price-fixing in the generic-drug industry.

  • October 16, 2024

    Caremark, Optum Say FTC Insulin Case Gets PBMs All Wrong

    Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx continue to attack the Federal Trade Commission's in-house case accusing the country's three largest pharmacy benefit managers of artificially inflating insulin prices by relying on unfair rebate schemes, arguing the agency's case lacks authority, facts and the right targets.

  • October 16, 2024

    Pa. AG Wants State Claims Restored In FTC Amazon Suit

    Pennsylvania's attorney general wants to get back into a joint state and federal antitrust case against Amazon, asking a Washington federal judge to reconsider tossing claims under Pennsylvania's consumer protection law because Amazon allegedly concealed its unfair trade practices from Pennsylvania customers.

  • October 16, 2024

    UFC, Fighters Get New Hearing On Revised $375M Settlement

    A Nevada federal judge has scheduled an Oct. 22 hearing to consider a $375 million proposed settlement between UFC and former fighters that would resolve claims the organization underpaid match participants for years, according to a minute order on Tuesday.

  • October 16, 2024

    M&A Pros Cautious About Expected Private Equity Surge

    It's an oft-repeated line that private equity activity is set to surge amid pressure to exit older investments and deploy record stores of dry powder, but mergers and acquisitions professionals recently surveyed by Dykema were cautious when asked if they expect private equity to boost deal flow in the next 12 months, with a majority saying they only "somewhat agree." 

  • October 16, 2024

    Enforcers Won't Challenge $3B Energy Deal, $5B Coal Tie-Up

    Deadlines have passed for antitrust enforcers to challenge Oneok Inc.'s deal for a $3.3 billion stake in EnLink Midstream LLC and Arch Resources Inc.'s all-stock merger with Consol Energy Inc., a deal that's expected to create a natural resources company worth $5.2 billion.

  • October 16, 2024

    4th Circ. Affirms Judgment In Foreclosure Bid-Rigging Case

    The Fourth Circuit backed a North Carolina federal court and tossed part of an appeal by a real estate company founder and others of a jury verdict that they rigged bids in foreclosure auctions in violation of state and federal antitrust laws.

  • October 15, 2024

    Qualcomm Milked 'Weak Patents' For Monopoly, 9th Circ. Told

    An attorney for a proposed class of cellphone buyers urged the 9th Circuit Monday to revive antitrust claims against Qualcomm, saying it used "weak patents" to secure licensing agreements that forced companies to give up their right to challenge the patents, although one judge questioned whether the plaintiffs had waived that argument.

  • October 15, 2024

    Transport Monopoly Judge Accepts Antitrust Guilty Plea

    A Texas federal judge has accepted a guilty plea from one of a dozen individuals in an antitrust case whom the government accused of using violence and intimidation to monopolize cross-border sales of used vehicles and other goods from the U.S. to Central America.

  • October 15, 2024

    Patent Co. Drops IP Suits To Go After Carriers In Antitrust Cases

    Patent-holding company VoIP-Pal.com announced Monday that it will refocus its legal efforts on antitrust litigation targeting the big three telecommunications carriers, days after dropping recently filed patent suits against Verizon and T-Mobile.

  • October 15, 2024

    Texas Regulators Oppose Bid To Open Up Texas Grid Projects

    The Public Utility Commission of Texas and three electricity companies have fired back at an independent electric transmission developer's attempt to halt a Texas law reserving new power line development for incumbent transmission companies.

  • October 15, 2024

    No New Trial For Bid-Rigging, Price-Fixing Concrete Bros.

    A Georgia federal judge refused Tuesday to grant a new trial to a pair of brothers convicted in July for their role in a scheme fixing prices, rigging bids and carving up the coastal Georgia ready-mix concrete market, finding no jury confusion in witness testimony about antitrust compliance training.

  • October 15, 2024

    Gamers End Challenge Of Microsoft's $69B Activision Deal

    Microsoft reached an agreement ending a challenge from a group of gamers targeting its $69 billion deal for Activision Blizzard as a merger challenge from the Federal Trade Commission remains pending at the Ninth Circuit.

Expert Analysis

  • Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing

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    Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Remedy May Be Google's Biggest Hurdle Yet In Antitrust Case

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    There are difficulties ahead in the remedies phase of the antitrust case against Google in District of Columbia federal court, including the search engine giant's scale advantage and the fast-moving nature of the tech industry, setting the stage for the most challenging of the proceedings so far, says Jonathan Rubin at MoginRubin.

  • ECJ Cartel Damages Rulings Are Wins For Multinational Cos.

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    Two decisions from the European Court of Justice last month clarifying the limits of the single economic unit doctrine in cartel damages proceedings will help multinational companies anticipate and prepare for litigation within a narrower band of possible jurisdictions, say lawyers at Linklaters.

  • Opinion

    The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Look For Flags On Expert Claims After Sunday Ticket Reversal

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    A California federal judge’s recent reversal of a jury’s $4.7 billion antitrust verdict in the NFL Sunday Ticket case indicates that litigants may be inclined to challenge expert testimony admissibility under Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, and that judges may increasingly accept such challenges, say attorneys at Kutak Rock.

  • Takeaways From Virginia's $2B Trade Secrets Verdict Reversal

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    The Virginia Court of Appeals' recent reversal of the $2 billion damages award in Pegasystems v. Appian underscores the claimant's burden to show damages causation and highlights how an evidentiary ruling could lead to reversible error, say John Lanham and Kamran Jamil at Morrison Foerster.

  • UK Judgment Could Change Anti-Money Laundering Regimes

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    After the Court of Appeal of England and Wales' determination that criminal property remains criminal property in the hands of its purchaser even if purchased at market value, many businesses could face a new or heightened risk of prosecution for criminality in their supply chains and related money laundering offenses, say lawyers at Macfarlanes.

  • How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act

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    In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.

  • Jarkesy May Thwart Consumer Agencies' Civil Penalty Power

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy not only implicates future SEC administrative adjudications, but those of other agencies that operate similarly — and may stymie regulators' efforts to levy civil monetary penalties in a range of consumer protection enforcement actions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

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    A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Bank M&A Continues To Lag Amid Regulatory Ambiguity

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    Bank M&A activity in the first half of 2024 continued to be lower than in prior years, as the industry is recovering from the 2023 bank failures, and regulatory and macroeconomic conditions have not otherwise been prime for deals, say Robert Azarow and Amber Hay at Arnold & Porter.

  • FTC's Drug Middlemen Probe Highlights Ongoing Scrutiny

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    The Federal Trade Commission's interim staff report on its inquiry into pharmacy benefit managers suggests that the industry will remain under an enforcement microscope for the foreseeable future due to concerns about how PBMs affect drug costs and accessibility, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Series

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

  • Considerations When Using Publicly Available Data To Train AI

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    To maximize the benefits and mitigate the risks of using publicly available data to train artificial intelligence models, companies should maintain a balance between openness and protection, and consider certain best practices, says Michael Cole at Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America.

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