Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Competition
-
August 23, 2024
Firms Seek $20M Fee After $58M Deal In Shire Antitrust Suit
A group of nine firms led by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP asked a Massachusetts federal judge to sign off on $20 million in fees and expenses after securing a $58 million settlement with drugmaker Shire PLC in a yearslong antitrust class action.
-
August 23, 2024
DOJ Sues RealPage For Helping Fix Rental Rates
The U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit Aug. 23 accusing RealPage of helping residential landlords across the country fix rental prices through the use of its revenue management software.
-
August 22, 2024
UK Antitrust Arm Pauses Google, Apple Probes For New Law
United Kingdom antitrust authorities hit pause on investigations into Google and Apple policies allegedly locking app developers into their in-app payment systems, preferring to wait until new powers come online even as officials said commitments offered by Google aren't enough to address their concerns.
-
August 22, 2024
Consumers Will Appeal Tossed Apple Web App Antitrust Case
Consumers have told a California federal court they plan to appeal the dismissal of a case accusing Apple of violating antitrust law by preventing iPhones from running web-based apps, instead of amending the proposed class action.
-
August 22, 2024
State Bank Coalition Establishes AI Advisory Group
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors has created a new advisory group to guide it on the development and use of artificial intelligence in the financial services sector, according to a Thursday statement.
-
August 22, 2024
Hormel, Meat Plants To Settle Wage-Fixing Claims For $13.5M
Hormel Foods Corp. and two meat processing plants have agreed to a $13.5 million settlement in a Colorado wage-fixing suit, joining a host of companies that have reached deals to end claims that they colluded to depress wages.
-
August 22, 2024
Appeals Court Revives DC AG's Amazon Antitrust Suit
A Washington, D.C., appeals court ruled Thursday that the D.C. attorney general can pursue an antitrust suit against Amazon, overturning a lower court order that tossed district enforcers' complaint against the e-commerce giant.
-
August 22, 2024
Kroger-Albertsons Wrong On Labor Law In FTC Row: NLRB
The National Labor Relations Board used an amicus brief Wednesday to call out Kroger and Albertsons for their "mistaken" citation to labor law as a defense against Federal Trade Commission claims that the grocery giants' $25 billion megamerger threatens union bargaining leverage.
-
August 22, 2024
Judge Delays AI Trial In Thomson Reuters, ROSS IP Row
A Delaware federal judge on Thursday delayed the first trial involving an artificial intelligence product, postponing a highly anticipated clash in which Thomson Reuters is accusing tech startup ROSS Intelligence of creating an AI legal research platform using copyrighted material from the media company's Westlaw database.
-
August 22, 2024
Flyers Chided For Late Bid To Block Alaska-Hawaiian Deal
A Hawaii federal judge refused to pause the planned $1.9 billion tie-up between Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines on Wednesday, telling attorneys for the passengers and travel agents bringing a merger challenge that they appear to have "forgotten" the case was tossed.
-
August 22, 2024
Deals Rumor Mill: Saudi Fund, Disney-Reliance, Repligen
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund wants to launch a new cargo airline, India’s antitrust regulators worry about power over cricket rights if the $8.5 billion merger of Walt Disney’s Indian business with Reliance Entertainment is allowed, and drug manufacturing provider Repligen is eyeing Maravai LifeSciences. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.
-
August 22, 2024
Ventilation Biz Deal Could Distort Competition, CMA Finds
Swedish ventilation products maker Lindab's acquisition of British rival HAS-Vent Ltd. could substantially decrease competition in parts of the U.K., Britain's antitrust regulator said Thursday as it concluded its second phase of investigation into the deal.
-
August 22, 2024
Paramount Board Vets $6B Bronfman Bid, Cravath Counsels
Paramount Global confirmed late Wednesday that a consortium of investors led by media executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. has submitted a proposal to purchase the company, interjecting a bid that complicates Paramount's existing deal to merge with Skydance Media.
-
August 21, 2024
RTX Wants Trade Secrets Trial Closed To 'Non-US Persons'
Defense contractor RTX is fighting with a manufacturer over whether a trade secrets trial next week over the design of a mechanical bearing used in the U.S. military's "StormBreaker" bomb should be closed off to all "non-U.S. persons."
-
August 21, 2024
FTC Fails 1st Test Of Rulemaking Push In Noncompetes Loss
The Federal Trade Commission suffered its first definitive loss Tuesday in the push to ban employment noncompete agreements, although the decision probably isn't the final word given a likely appeal and two other pending challenges also viewed as a test of the agency's efforts to expand its rulemaking footprint.
-
August 21, 2024
AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile Accused Of Blocking Wi-Fi Calling
A patent-holding company said Wednesday it has filed a lawsuit accusing AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom of blocking the emergence of a market for Wi-Fi calling by tying the service to voice and text offerings.
-
August 21, 2024
Investment Firm, Ex-Advisers Settle Dispute Over Clients
Mercer Global Advisors and former investment advisers accused of stealing clients and starting a competing firm have told a Florida state court that they have settled their dispute just before trial.
-
August 21, 2024
NC Biz Court Bulletin: Wrinkle In Textile Family's $17M Fight
The fate of a $17 million trust battled over by its trustees and Atrium Health, as well as attorney fees in a $1.1 million data breach settlement were cemented by the North Carolina Business Court in the first half of August. In case you missed those and others, here are the highlights.
-
August 21, 2024
Mich. Families Drop Virtual Jail Visit Suit Against Telecom
Families of inmates in the St. Clair County Jail have dropped their claims against a jail telecommunication provider after a Michigan state judge ruled that the families' constitutional rights were not violated by the jail's decision to replace in-person visitation with video calling.
-
August 21, 2024
Contractor, Manager Settle Hartford HealthCare No-Poach Suit
A New Jersey company that manages a sleep clinic in a Connecticut hospital has settled a former clinic manager's lawsuit alleging the company improperly prevented him from getting a job with the hospital's new owner after it fired him.
-
August 21, 2024
Hillrom Says Funding Docs 'Plainly' Relevant In Antitrust Suit
Hospital-bed maker Hill-Rom Holdings, doing business as Hillrom, defended its request for litigation funding documents in rival Linet's suit targeting allegedly anticompetitive supply agreements, arguing they will help support its defenses and combat a "David and Goliath" characterization of the case.
-
August 21, 2024
FTC Can't Stop $8.5B Merger, Handbag Cos. Say
The owners of Coach and Michael Kors urged a New York federal court not to pause their planned $8.5 billion merger, saying a challenge from the Federal Trade Commission ignores the hundreds of options consumers have when shopping for handbags.
-
August 21, 2024
Calif. AG Secures Rite Aid Deal Ensuring Pharmacy Access
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has announced a settlement with Rite Aid Corp. that will allow his office to oversee any changes in ownership of the company's retail pharmacy outlets across the state.
-
August 21, 2024
NJ Health System Calls Proskauer DQ Bid A 'Litigation Tactic'
RWJBarnabas Health urged a New Jersey federal judge to reject its competitor's attempt to disqualify Proskauer Rose LLP from representing the healthcare system in an antitrust suit, telling the court the "litigation tactic" is merely the plaintiff's effort to replace opposing counsel because its case is going badly.
-
August 21, 2024
CMA Set To Clear £2.5B Homebuilders Deal After Remedies
Britain's competition regulator said Wednesday that it plans to clear Barratt Developments PLC's acquisition of rival homebuilder Redrow PLC for approximately £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) in light of the remedies offered to ease the regulator's competition concerns.
Expert Analysis
-
Protecting IP May Be Tricky Without Noncompetes
Contrary to the Federal Trade Commission's view, trade secret law cannot replace noncompetes' protection of proprietary information because intellectual property includes far more than just trade secrets, so businesses need to closely examine their IP protection options, say Aimee Fagan and Ching-Lee Fukuda at Sidley.
-
How FTC's Noncompete Rule May Affect Exec Comp Packages
In the event the Federal Trade Commission's final noncompete rule goes into effect as currently contemplated, companies will need to take stock of how they structure post-employment executive compensation arrangements, such as severance agreements and clawbacks, says Meredith O'Leary at King & Spalding.
-
Key Antitrust Class Certification Questions Remain Unclear
The U.S. Supreme Court, by recently rejecting certiorari in Visa v. National ATM, turned down the opportunity to clarify how to analyze disputed evidence bearing on the certification of antitrust class actions, leaving the applicable standards unclear instead of resolving this split of authority, says Jonathan Berman at Jones Day.
-
E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data
Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.
-
Installing Antitrust Firewalls For AI And Other Innovations
Amid the specter of increased regulatory focus, implementing a firewall policy can help minimize antitrust risks related to the improper use or sharing of competitively sensitive information, including AI and algorithms, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.
-
Fostering Employee Retention Amid Shaky DEI Landscape
Ongoing challenges to the legality of corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs are complicating efforts to use DEI as an employee retention tool, but with the right strategic approach employers can continue to recruit and retain diverse talent — even after the FTC’s ban on noncompetes, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.
-
PE In The Crosshairs Of Public And Private Antitrust Enforcers
A series of decisions from a California federal court in the recently settled Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litigation, as well as heightened scrutiny from federal agencies, serve as a reminder that private equity firms may be exposed to liability for alleged anti-competitive conduct by their portfolio companies, say attorneys at Axinn.
-
Series
Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.
-
FTC Noncompete Rule May Still Face Historical Hurdles
The Federal Trade Commission's final rule banning noncompetes might face challenges that could have been avoided with more cautious consideration of the commission's long history of failed lawsuits that went beyond the agency's statutory authority, as well as the mountain of judicial precedent justifying noncompete agreements in employment contracts, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.
-
Manufacturers Should Pay Attention To 'Right-To-Repair' Laws
Oregon’s recently passed "right-to-repair" statute highlights that the R2R movement is not going away, and that manufacturers of all kinds need to be paying attention to the evolving list of R2R statutes in various states and consider participating in the process, says Courtney Sarnow at Culhane.
-
New Federal Bill Would Drastically Alter Privacy Landscape
While the recently introduced American Privacy Rights Act would eliminate the burdensome patchwork of state regulations, the proposed federal privacy law would also significantly expand compliance obligations and liability exposure for companies, especially those that rely on artificial intelligence or biometric technologies, says David Oberly at Baker Donelson.
-
Opinion
CFPB Could, And Should, Revise Open Banking Rulemaking
In light of continued global developments in open banking, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should evaluate whether it actually should use its proposed rule on Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act to amplify personal financial data rights in the U.S., says Brian Fritzsche at the Consumer Bankers Association.
-
How Cos. Can Protect IP In Light Of FTC Noncompete Rule
While several groups are challenging the Federal Trade Commission’s recently approved rule banning noncompetition agreements, employers should begin planning other ways to protect their valuable trade secrets, confidential information and other intellectual property, says Thomas Duston at Marshall Gerstein.
-
PE-Healthcare Mergers Should Prepare For Challenges
State and federal regulators are increasingly imposing new requirements on healthcare transactions involving private equity partners, with mergers that would have drawn little scrutiny a few years ago now requiring a multijurisdictional risk analysis during the deal formation process, say attorneys at Stinson.
-
Setting Goals For Kicking Corruption Off FIFA World Cup Field
The unprecedented tri-country nature of the 2026 men's World Cup will add to the complexity of an already complicated event, but best practices can help businesses stay on the right side of anti-corruption rules during this historic competition, say Sandra Moser and Emily Ahdieh at Morgan Lewis.