Competition

  • 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."

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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."

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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."

  • 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. 

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • July 19, 2024

    UK Clears Nationwide's £2.9B Purchase Of Virgin Money

    The competition regulator of the U.K. said Friday that it has cleared Nationwide Building Society's acquisition of Virgin Money UK PLC for £2.9 billion ($3.7 billion), which the companies say would create a combined group with assets of approximately £366 billion.

  • July 19, 2024

    UK Clears Roche's $295M Purchase Of Diagnostics Biz

    The U.K. antitrust watchdog said Friday that it has cleared a $295 million proposed purchase by Swiss drugmaker Roche of parts of diagnostic company LumiraDx.

Expert Analysis

  • Litigation Inspiration: A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment

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    As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.

  • Understanding Insurance Is Key To Limiting Antitrust Liability

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    As regulators signal their intent to continue last year's aggressive campaign of corporate antitrust litigation, businesses must make active management of their liability insurance policies, along with a firm knowledge of the limits of their coverage, central to their strategies for limiting the enormous financial risks of enforcement, say attorneys at Nossaman.

  • What FTC's 'Killer Acquisition' Theory Means For Pharma Cos.

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent lawsuit to block Sanofi's acquisition of a pharmaceutical treatment developed by Maze Therapeutics builds on previous enforcement actions and could indicate the agency's growing willingness to use its so-called killer acquisition theory against perceived attempts to eliminate nascent competition, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.

  • Assessing Chinese Cross-Border Data Transfers

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    Jet Deng and Ken Dai at Dacheng unpack the regulatory framework for cross-border data transfers in China, detailing the major systems at play, last year's policy adjustments, and an outlook and practice tips for businesses.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC

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    The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Opinion

    There Is No NCAA Supremacy Clause, Especially For NIL

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    A recent Tennessee federal court ruling illustrates the NCAA's problematic position that its member schools should violate state law rather than its rules — and the organization's legal history with the dormant commerce clause raises a fundamental constitutional issue that will have to be resolved before attorneys can navigate NIL with confidence, says Patrick O’Donnell at HWG.

  • Complying With Enforcers' Ephemeral Messaging Guidance

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    Given federal antitrust enforcers’ recently issued guidance on ephemeral messaging applications, organizations must take a proactive approach to preserving short-lived communications — or risk criminal obstruction charges and civil discovery sanctions, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • BT Case May Shape UK Class Action Landscape

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    The first opt-out collective action trial commenced in Le Patourel v. BT in the U.K. Competition Appeal Tribunal last month, regarding BT's abuse of dominance by overcharging millions of customers, will likely provide clarification on damages and funder returns in collective actions, which could significantly affect the class action regime, say lawyers at RPC.

  • Opinion

    Suits Against Insulin Pricing Are Driven By Rebate Addiction

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    A growing wave of lawsuits filed by states, cities and counties against insulin manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers improperly allocate the blame for rising insulin costs, when in actuality the plaintiffs are partially responsible, says Dan Leonard at Granite Capitol Consulting.

  • How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts

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    Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.

  • Opinion

    Pick 'Em Fantasy Sports Games Are Not Illegal Gambling

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    DraftKings Inc. and FanDuel Inc.'s quest for nationwide regulation of competing fantasy sports companies that offer "pick 'em" games lacks legal merit, may violate antitrust law's Noerr-Pennington doctrine, and should be dismissed, says attorney David Balto, a former policy director at the Federal Trade Commission.

  • 7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves

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    As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.

  • Series

    Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Args In APA Case Amplify Justices' Focus On Agency Power

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    In arguments last week in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve, the U.S. Supreme Court justices paid particular importance to the possible ripple effects of their decision, which will address when a facial challenge to long-standing federal rules under the Administrative Procedure Act first accrues and could thus unleash a flood of new lawsuits, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

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