Competition

  • July 24, 2024

    Pawnshop Co. Says Military Law Doesn't Back CFPB's Suit 

    National pawnshop company FirstCash says the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should drop certain claims in a suit accusing it of subjecting military families to predatory lending, arguing that the bureau has admitted it has no authority to bring certain claims under the law undergirding the allegations.

  • July 24, 2024

    Aerospace Co. Says Engine Buybacks Aren't Anticompetitive

    RTX Corp.'s subsidiary Pratt & Whitney urged a Pennsylvania federal court to toss a $450 million antitrust lawsuit from a "middleman" for used aircraft engine parts, arguing that Pratt & Whitney's decision to deal directly with numerous shops that break down old engines did not harm consumers or freeze the plaintiff out of the market.

  • July 24, 2024

    CFIUS Reviews Slumped In 2023, Penalties Increased

    The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States experienced a significant drop in the number of cases it reviewed in 2023, but levied a record number of penalties last year, according to an annual report to Congress.

  • July 24, 2024

    Last Holdouts Avoid Trial With Deal Over Chicken Price-Fixing

    Chicken buyer plaintiffs say they've reached a settlement with Mountaire Farms and Koch Foods in their suit against the country's biggest broiler chicken producers for allegedly conspiring to raise prices, telling an Illinois federal judge to call off the trial that had been scheduled for September.

  • July 23, 2024

    Knives Out For Another Pro-Agency Landmark After Chevron

    Only weeks after U.S. Supreme Court conservatives took a hatchet to the judicial deference shown to federal agencies, right-leaning lawyers are imploring the justices to rock the administrative law realm again by gutting a New Deal-era precedent at the heart of the modern regulatory system.

  • July 23, 2024

    Kroger And Colo. Talks To Avoid Merger Hearing Stall Out

    Negotiations between Kroger Co. and Colorado enforcers to avoid an injunction hearing in the state's challenge to a $24 billion merger with Albertsons appeared to have stalled, prompting the grocers Tuesday to pitch a state judge on other options to avoid the fast-approaching proceeding.

  • July 23, 2024

    FTC Won't Delay Challenge To Handbag Merger Either

    The Federal Trade Commission has declined to pause its administrative challenge to the $8.5 billion handbag merger between the owners of Coach and Michael Koors, saying that even a district court refusal to temporarily enjoin the merger might not end the FTC's in-house case.

  • July 23, 2024

    ​​​​​​​Nigeria Fines Meta $220M Over WhatsApp Privacy Policy

    Nigerian regulators have hit Meta with a $220 million fine over alleged privacy and antitrust violations and ordered the company to stop sharing WhatsApp users' data with advertisers without express permission, the culmination of a nearly three-year-long investigative process.

  • July 23, 2024

    Microsoft Calls FTC Price Hike Claims 'Misleading' At 9th Circ

    Microsoft pushed back against the Federal Trade Commission's contention that an increase in the company's gaming subscription pricing is evidence of the anticompetitive effects of the software giant's $68.7 billion acquisition of game developer Activision Blizzard Inc., calling the commission out for trying to "reinvent" its case against the merger on appeal to the Ninth Circuit.

  • July 23, 2024

    US, UK, EU Antitrust Enforcers Outline AI Principles

    The top antitrust officials from the U.S. Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission, the European Commission and the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority presented a unified international commitment Tuesday to closely monitor artificial intelligence technology and the companies that they warned could wield AI anticompetitively.

  • July 23, 2024

    Chancery Ends Challenge To $12.5B Qualtrics' SAP Sale

    Saying it was not reasonably conceivable that he would find software giant SAP and Qualtrics International Inc. directors liable for damages after Qualtrics' $12.5 billion sale to Silver Lake Capital despite a superficially better offer, a Delaware vice chancellor on Tuesday dismissed a stockholder challenge to the deal.

  • July 23, 2024

    FTC Attys On Kroger Case Get Extensions After IT Outage

    The administrative law judge overseeing the Federal Trade Commission's in-house challenge to Kroger and Albertsons' $25 billion merger has given the agency and the grocery behemoths two extra days on a couple of filing deadlines after the FTC said the worldwide Microsoft outage left several counsel laptops unusable.

  • July 23, 2024

    Optum Can Arbitrate Calif. Healthcare Provider's Antitrust Suit

    A California federal judge Tuesday ordered certain Emanate Health entities who signed hospital services and physician agreements with Optum to arbitrate their antitrust suit accusing it of monopolizing a primary care physician market, finding the agreements encompass rules that say issues of arbitrability will be referred to an arbitrator.

  • July 23, 2024

    Bros. Want New Trial For Concrete Price-Fixing Convictions

    Two brothers convicted earlier this month of involvement in a ready-made concrete bid-rigging and price-fixing scheme asked a Georgia federal judge Monday for another shot at trial, arguing that repeated testimony about purported law-breaking tipped the scales in favor of federal prosecutors.

  • July 23, 2024

    Biz Groups Form Lobby Effort To Fight FCC Bulk Billing Rules

    Bulk billing agreements are often a boon for people living in apartment buildings and condos, according to a new coalition made up of multifamily housing organizations and a cable trade group, which was formed to push the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider banning such arrangements.

  • July 23, 2024

    Capital One Card Holders Sue To Block Discover Merger

    Capital One credit card holders launched a proposed class action seeking to block the company's $35 billion purchase of Discover Monday, claiming the acquisition will drive down competition and further consolidate the already-concentrated credit card market.

  • July 23, 2024

    On Capitol Hill, PBM Execs Deny Role In High Drug Costs

    Executives from the nation's three largest pharmacy benefit managers told members of a U.S. House committee on Tuesday that they lower drug costs while pointing the finger at pharmaceutical manufacturers.

  • July 23, 2024

    Senate Dems Roll Out Bill To Codify Chevron Deference

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., led a group of Democratic senators Tuesday in introducing a bill to codify the now-defunct doctrine of Chevron deference after it was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last month.

  • July 23, 2024

    Philly Judge Won't Block FTC Noncompete Ban

    A Pennsylvania federal judge refused Tuesday to temporarily block the Federal Trade Commission's impending ban on employment noncompete agreements, a victory for commission authority that could be short-lived as the agency awaits a final decision from a Texas federal judge who's already indicated an inclination to stop the regulation.

  • July 23, 2024

    Firm Says Rival's Trademark Merely 'Common Spanish Phrase'

    A Houston-based immigration law firm wants claims trimmed in a suit brought by a rival Washington state firm claiming unfair competition and trademark violation, also filing a counterclaim for declaratory judgment that calls the supposed trademark a "common Spanish phrase."

  • July 23, 2024

    Chase, McKinsey Get FTC Inquiry Over 'Surveillance Pricing'

    The Federal Trade Commission has issued orders to eight companies — including Mastercard, Chase, Accenture and McKinsey & Co. — seeking more information about the potential impact their practices of "surveillance pricing" products and services have on privacy, competition and consumer protection, the FTC said Tuesday.

  • July 22, 2024

    FCC, Industry Debate If Brand X Case Set Broadband In Stone

    Industry groups are pushing their case to the Sixth Circuit that the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules should be tossed because the demise of the Chevron doctrine trimmed agency's legal authority, but the FCC argues that the recent paring back of federal regulators' discretion means nothing for the agency's restrictions on broadband providers.

  • July 22, 2024

    Fla. Jury Says Insurance Broker Owes $3M For Worker Poaching

    A Florida federal jury has awarded more than $3 million in damages to a New York insurance brokerage in a trial over employment contracts, finding that a competitor interfered with its business by helping two employees breach fiduciary duties when they switched jobs and brought client lists with them.

  • July 22, 2024

    Tevra Says Bayer Owes Millions As Antitrust Trial Opens

    Tevra Brands LLC told a California federal jury during antitrust trial openings Monday that Bayer owes millions of dollars for allegedly cutting anticompetitive deals with retailers to undermine competition from anti-flea-and-tick treatment generics, while Bayer defended its "reasonable" and optional retailer discounts and criticized Tevra's "astronomical" damages demand.

  • July 22, 2024

    Gov't Wants Protest Over $186M In DOD Fuel Deals Thrown Out

    The Defense Logistics Agency has urged the Court of Federal Claims to dismiss a protest alleging it wrongly ignored misconduct by companies awarded $186 million in fuel delivery deals, saying it adequately investigated the claims and found nothing untoward.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    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.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    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.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

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    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.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Expect Few Changes In ITC Rulemaking

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    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.

  • How Generative AI May Aid Merger Clearance Process

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    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.

  • Antitrust In Retail: The Meaning Of 'Accessible Luxury'

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    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.

  • 4 Important Events In Bank Regulation: A Midyear Review

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    The first six months of 2024 have been fairly stable for the banking industry, though U.S. Supreme Court decisions and proposals from regulators have significantly affected the regulatory standards applicable to insured depository institutions, says Christina Grigorian at Katten.

  • FTC Focus: Competition And The Right To Repair

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    If the Federal Trade Commission includes commercial and industrial products as part of copyright exemptions that allow consumers to modify or repair products, then businesses and affected rights holders will need to consider copyrights' impact on infringement issues, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers two recent decisions from the Third and Tenth Circuits, and identifies practice tips around class action settlements and standing in securities litigation.

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

  • After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1

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    The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • The Current State Of Healthcare Transaction Reviews In Calif.

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    As of April, certain healthcare transactions in California have been subject to additional notification compliance requirements, and complying with these new rules could significantly delay and discourage some deals, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.

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