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Competition
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Featured
House Antitrust Chair Wants To Override Merger Overhaul
The head of the House antitrust subcommittee, Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wisc., introduced a bill Tuesday that would unwind the newly in-effect overhaul to merger filing requirements that practitioners say will significantly increase upfront burdens but that the Federal Trade Commission's Republican leadership has argued will lower costs.
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February 18, 2025
Equifax Can't Duck Employment Verification Monopoly Claims
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday refused to throw out a proposed class action accusing Equifax of monopolizing the income and employment verification market, rejecting Equifax's argument that plaintiff Greystone Mortgage hasn't plausibly alleged that Equifax engaged in anticompetitive conduct.
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February 18, 2025
Trump Exec Order Expands Control Over Independent Agencies
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to limit the autonomy of independent agencies such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Communications Commission by requiring them to submit draft regulations for presidential review.
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February 18, 2025
Net Neutrality Supporters Want 6th Circ. Redo On FCC Rule
Public interest groups urged the full Sixth Circuit on Tuesday to reconsider toppling net neutrality rules, arguing that the court's holding conflicts with sister circuits' take on whether broadband providers can be regulated under the Telecommunications Act.
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February 18, 2025
Discover Can't Get Judge To Rethink Decision In Risk Case
A New York federal judge will not rethink her decision denying Discover a quick win in a lawsuit over whether it and several other credit card companies conspired to dump fraud risk onto retailers, ruling that the suing retailers can continue their claims.
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February 18, 2025
OCC's Hood Eyes Mergers, Fintech In Agenda Preview
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's acting chief Rodney Hood on Tuesday pledged efforts to ease regulations for so-called community banks, previewing an agenda that includes making it easier for them to merge and explore financial technology.
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February 18, 2025
IPhone Buyers Can't Get Apple DOJ Docs Before Discovery
Apple doesn't have to turn over the millions of documents it gave the U.S. Department of Justice as part of a private monopolization suit brought by iPhone and Apple Watch buyers, at least not until discovery, a judge overseeing the recently created multidistrict litigation has said.
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February 18, 2025
Policyholders Win Bid To Preserve Records For Antitrust Suit
Insurance policyholders who accused Hartford HealthCare Corp. of violating antitrust and unfair trade practices in a Connecticut state court can intervene in a federal court lawsuit with similar claims against the hospital network to preserve records for their class action, a federal district judge has ruled a month after the federal suit settled.
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February 18, 2025
Pepsi, Frito-Lay Accused Of Favoring Chains With Chip Prices
PepsiCo and Frito-Lay are illegally favoring Walmart, Target and other chain grocery stores by charging them much lower prices for snack chips than independently owned businesses, a pair of California convenience stores alleged in a proposed class action filed in Golden State federal court.
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February 18, 2025
Ferguson, DOJ Keep Biden-Era Merger Guides For 'Stability'
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson announced Tuesday that the agency would continue, for now, to use Biden-era merger review guidelines despite them being derided by business interests because he said they are largely "a restatement" of older policies.
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February 18, 2025
U. Of Ga. Athlete Joins Fight Against NCAA Eligibility Rules
A baseball player at the University of Georgia on Tuesday became the latest college athlete to sue the NCAA over its eligibility rules, claiming that because a Tennessee federal judge granted a football player an extra year under similar circumstances, the NCAA "has already fought and lost this fight."
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February 18, 2025
Pot Co. Alliance Adds Class Claims To DC Dispensaries Suits
A group of medical cannabis companies is adding class claims to suits it has filed against companies it alleges are acting as illegal recreational dispensaries in anticipation of consolidation of the suits.
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February 18, 2025
Calif. Insurance Chief Asks State Farm To Justify Rate Hikes
California's insurance commissioner asked State Farm General Insurance Co. to appear for an in-person "informal conference" later this month over its request for emergency rate hikes in the wake of the deadly Los Angeles wildfires in January, saying the insurer has not yet justified the move.
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February 18, 2025
Compliance Boss Took $9M In Clients, Investment Firm Says
A Connecticut investment firm with $360 million in assets under management says its former chief compliance officer violated trade secrets and computer fraud laws by taking eight clients worth $9.3 million and secretly joining a competitor, all despite bearing responsibility for his now-former firm's data confidentiality measures.
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February 18, 2025
Competition Group Of The Year: Covington
Covington & Burling LLP helped pull off a stunning interception-touchdown on behalf of the NFL, convincing a California federal judge to reverse a $4.7 billion jury verdict and carving out a spot for the firm as one of the 2024 Law360 Competition Groups of the Year.
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February 18, 2025
UK Probes French Aerospace Group's Planned $1.8B Takeover
The Competition and Markets Authority said Tuesday that it has launched an investigation into the proposed acquisition by French aerospace group Safran SA of Collins Aerospace's flight-control business for $1.8 billion.
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February 18, 2025
Merger Of Poultry Feed Suppliers Gets Provisional UK Nod
The Competition and Markets Authority said on Tuesday that it has provisionally cleared the proposed acquisition by restaurant group Boparan of two feed mills, despite finding in an earlier investigation into a similar deal that it could harm competition in parts of the country.
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February 17, 2025
CMA Wants Answers From Tile Biz Over £9M Deal To Buy Rival
The Competition and Markets Authority said Monday that an initial investigation into the £9 million purchase by tile retailer Topps Tiles of 30 stores of rival CTD Tiles raises concerns over competition in four U.K. regions.
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February 14, 2025
Uber Starts Antitrust Food Fight With DoorDash
DoorDash Inc. has devised an unlawful scheme to stifle competition with its main rival, Uber Eats, by forcing restaurants to exclusively work with DoorDash to manage their in-house deliveries, which hikes costs for restaurants and customers, Uber Technologies Inc. alleges in a lawsuit filed Friday in Golden State court.
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February 14, 2025
FTC Political Appointees Told To Break Up With 'Leftist' ABA
Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew N. Ferguson told agency staff in a letter that political appointees cannot hold leadership positions in the American Bar Association, attend its events or renew their memberships, citing the ABA's "leftist advocacy and its recent attacks" on the Trump administration's agenda.
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February 14, 2025
FTC's Ferguson, PBMs Agree: Nix Leader Removal Safeguards
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson offered his own support for enabling the president to readily fire independent agency commissioners at the FTC and beyond, a day after pharmacy benefit managers cited the new U.S. Department of Justice policy in their own battle with the FTC.
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February 14, 2025
'Not For Sale': OpenAI Rebuffs Musk's $97.4B Takeover Bid
The board of directors for OpenAI voted unanimously on Friday to reject a $97.4 billion offer from Elon Musk and a consortium of investors to buy the artificial intelligence platform, with the board chair saying in a statement, "OpenAI is not for sale."
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February 14, 2025
Trump Aims To End Limits On President's Power To Fire
President Donald Trump has his sights set on taking down a 90-year-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling that protects certain government officials from being fired, a U.S. Department of Justice letter confirms, and he plans to leverage his prior legal victories to deliver the precedent's death knell and expand presidential power.
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February 14, 2025
CVS Wins Arbitration In Medicare Fee Antitrust Suit
An Arizona federal judge ordered four independent pharmacies to arbitrate their claims accusing CVS of exploiting a Medicare loophole to charge them exorbitant fees, saying several unconscionable provisions in an underlying arbitration clause could be severed.
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February 14, 2025
NHL, CHL Ask Court to Toss Junior Players' Antitrust Lawsuit
The National Hockey League has asked a Washington federal court to toss an antitrust lawsuit challenging a rule that dictates where junior athletes can play, arguing that most enforcement of the rule took place in Canada.
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February 14, 2025
Judge Upholds Pay-For-Delay Ban Law, But Only In Calif.
A California federal judge has upheld part of a new state law that the Association for Accessible Medicines alleged unlawfully restricted "reverse payment" settlements between makers of brand-name and generic drugs, finding that the law's attempt to regulate deals outside of California runs afoul of the Constitution, but is otherwise valid.
Editor's Picks
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Google Ad Tech Trial: 15 Days On The Rocket Docket
The Justice Department wrapped an extraordinary antitrust trial last week that left a Virginia federal judge pondering whether Google is even dominant in the display advertising placement technology market or just another player.
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FTC Withdraws From Feds' Merger Review Labor Pact
The Federal Trade Commission is withdrawing from an agreement signed in August with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board that's meant to increase collaboration when looking at labor issues in mergers.
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US Antitrust Holds Fast: No 'Environmental Justice' Goals
A top Federal Trade Commission official in her latest address to antitrust lawyers offered little comfort to U.S. companies seeking to collaborate on environmental initiatives.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
DOJ's Visa Suit Shows Pitfalls Of Regulating Innovative Tech
A policy of allowing free-market mechanisms to operate without undue interference remains the most effective way to foster innovation, and the U.S. Department of Justice's 2024 case against Visa illustrates the drawbacks of regulating innovative technology, says attorney Thomas Willcox.
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Corp. Transparency Act's Future Under Treasury's Bessent
The Corporate Transparency Act’s ultimate fate faced uncertain terms at the end of 2024, but new U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's statements and actions so far demonstrate that he does not intend to ignore the law, though he may attempt to make modifications, say attorneys at Taylor English.
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Nippon Order Tests Gov't Control Over Foreign Investments
The U.S. government is primarily interested in restraining foreign transactions involving countries of concern, but former President Joe Biden’s January order blocking the merger of Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel shows that all foreign direct investments are under the federal government’s microscope, say attorneys at Blank Rome.
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A Look At A Possible Corporate Transparency Act Exemption
Attorneys at Kirkland offer a deep dive into the application of the Corporate Transparency Act's reporting requirements specifically to U.S.-domiciled co-issuers in typical collateralized loan obligation transactions, and consider whether such issuers may be able to assert an exemption from the CTA's reporting requirements.
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Opinion
Inconsistent Injury-In-Fact Rules Hinder Federal Practice
A recent Third Circuit decision, contradicting a previous ruling about whether consumers of contaminated products have suffered an injury in fact, illustrates the deep confusion this U.S. Supreme Court standard creates among federal judges and practitioners, who deserve a simpler method of determining which cases have federal standing, says Eric Dwoskin at Dwoskin Wasdin.
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Expect Continued Antitrust Enforcement In Procurement
The scope of federal antitrust enforcement under the second Trump administration remains uncertain, but the Procurement Collusion Strike Force, which collaborates with federal and state agencies to enforce antitrust laws in the government procurement space, is likely to remain active — so contractors must stay vigilant, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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Takeaways From Oral Argument In High Court Trademark Case
Unpacking oral arguments from Dewberry Group v. Dewberry Engineers, which the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on this year, sheds light on the ways in which the decision could significantly affect trademark infringement plaintiffs' ability to receive monetary damages, say attorneys at Buchanan Ingersoll.
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In-House Counsel Pointers For Preserving Atty-Client Privilege
Several recent rulings illustrate the challenges in-house counsel can face when attempting to preserve attorney-client privilege, but a few best practices can help safeguard communications and effectively assert the privilege in an increasingly scrutinized corporate environment, says Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics.
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Improving Comms Between Trial Attys And Tech Witnesses
In major litigation involving complex technology, attorneys should employ certain strategies to collaborate with companies' technical personnel more effectively to enhance both the attorney's understanding of the subject matter and the expert's ability to provide effective testimony in court, say attorneys at Buchalter.
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Navigating Title IX Compliance In The NIL Era
As universities push to move more name, image and likeness activity in-house, it's unclear how the NCAA and its members will square implementation of the House settlement with Title IX requirements, say attorneys at Buchanan Ingersoll.
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National Bank Act Rulings Facilitate More Preemption Analysis
Two recent National Bank Act preemption decisions from an Illinois federal court and the Ninth Circuit provide the first applications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s May ruling in Cantero v. Bank of America, opening the potential for several circuit courts to address the issue this year, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.
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Series
Collecting Rare Books Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My collection of rare books includes several written or owned by prominent lawyers from early U.S. history, and immersing myself in their stories helps me feel a deeper connection to my legal practice and its purpose, says Douglas Brown at Manatt Health.
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Preparing For Stricter Anti-Boycott Enforcement Under Trump
Given the complexity of U.S. anti-boycott regulations and the likelihood of stepped-up enforcement under the new administration, companies should consider adopting risk-based anti-boycott compliance programs that include training employees to recognize and assess potential boycott requests, and to report them expeditiously when necessary, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Opinion
New DOJ Leaders Should Curb Ill-Conceived Prosecutions
First-of-their-kind cases have seemingly led to a string of overly aggressive prosecutions in recent years, so newly sworn-in leaders of the U.S. Department of Justice should consider creating reporting channels to stop unwise prosecutions before they snowball, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.
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Tips For Pharma-Biotech Overlap Reporting In New HSR Form
While there’s no secret recipe for reporting overlaps to the Federal Trade Commission in the new Hart-Scott-Rodino Act form, there are several layers of considerations for all pharma-biotech companies and counsel to reflect on internally before reporting on any deal, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.