Competition

March 27, 2025
Google, Apple Staff Want Out Of Testifying In FTC-Meta Case

Current and former employees of Google, Apple, TikTok, X Corp., Snap and Epic Games asked a D.C. federal judge Wednesday to quash subpoenas seeking their live testimony in the Federal Trade Commission's upcoming antitrust trial against Meta Platforms, arguing their taped depositions make the burden of testifying unnecessary.
March 27, 2025
NYC Tour Bus Antitrust Suit Dead-Ends At 2nd Circ.

A New York City tour bus operator on Thursday lost its bid to revive a suit accusing a group of rivals of entering into an anticompetitive partnership, after a Second Circuit panel backed a lower court's finding that the case sought to relitigate failed claims from an earlier suit.
March 27, 2025
Feds Allowed To Weigh In On MultiPlan Pricing MDL

The federal government will be allowed to appear in multidistrict antitrust litigation targeting MultiPlan's out-of-network reimbursement rates to offer input on the legal framework for analyzing claims involving the joint use of algorithms, a practice it says poses "a growing threat" to free market competition.
March 27, 2025
Railway Questions Class Rep's Suitability In Fare Dispute

Govia Thameslink Railway Ltd. asked the U.K.'s antitrust tribunal on Thursday to demand extra evidence from the campaigner seeking to represent rail passengers in a class action over allegedly unfair ticket prices, saying he must prove he is a suitable representative.
March 27, 2025
Apple Says Its Affidavits Are Admissible In Google Case

After an unsuccessful bid to intervene in the remedies phase of the Justice Department's antitrust case against Google, Apple is urging a D.C. federal judge to consider its affidavits from company executives as the court weighs the proper fix for Google's search monopoly.
March 27, 2025
DOJ's Antitrust Unit Targeting Anticompetitive Regulations

The U.S. Department of Justice launched a task force on Thursday aimed at eliminating state and federal laws and regulations that are hindering competition, with an initial focus on key sectors including housing, food and transportation.
March 27, 2025
'A Challenge We Have To Rise To': Class Reps Take The Stage

Launching a series of interviews with lawyers, class representatives and litigation-funders to mark the 10-year anniversary of the collective proceedings order regime, Law360 spoke to Justin Gutmann and Rachael Kent about how the role of class reps has evolved in the decade since CPOs were introduced
March 27, 2025
Dutch Software Co. Tells 4th Circ. To Pause Trial After Atty DQ

A Dutch software company is taking another stab at delaying its impending trademark trial with an American rival, telling the Fourth Circuit that it should not be forced to proceed after the district court held one of its attorneys in contempt and essentially disqualified him.
March 27, 2025
9th Circ. Won't Stay Injunction Compelling Fed. Worker Rehire

A split Ninth Circuit panel has refused to block an injunction compelling the Trump administration to reinstate about 16,000 probationary employees to six federal agencies, saying the administration will likely lose its argument that the agencies weren't acting on an order from above when they fired the workers.
March 27, 2025
FCPA 'Purgatory' Frustrates White Collar Bar, Anxious Clients

An abrupt pause in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement has created tension between clients eager to resolve investigations and their attorneys, who are having trouble reaching decision-makers at the U.S. Department of Justice and are more inclined to await further guidance from the government.
March 27, 2025
Jordan's NASCAR Team Fires Back At League's Cartel Claim

Michael Jordan's racing team has urged a North Carolina federal judge to toss NASCAR's counterclaim in an antitrust suit against the league, arguing that the stock car racing company has failed to lay out enough detail on the alleged cartel Jordan's team and others purportedly formed to harm its business.
March 27, 2025
Fuel Truck Exec Cops To Wildfire Bid-Rigging Scheme

The owner of a company that contracted with the U.S. Forest Service to supply fuel truck services to wildland firefighters pled guilty to conspiring with another executive to rig bids and allocate territories between 2015 and 2023.
March 27, 2025
FTC Democrats Sue To Undo Trump's 'Unlawful' Firing

Recently fired Federal Trade Commission members Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro M. Bedoya challenged their terminations Thursday in D.C. federal court, arguing President Donald Trump violated "bedrock, binding precedent" permitting their removal only for cause.
March 27, 2025
Top EU Court Urged To Uphold €60M Teva Pay-For-Delay Fine

An adviser to the European Union's top court said Thursday that it should uphold €60.5 million ($70.7 million) in fines against Teva and its subsidiary Cephalon for an alleged conspiracy to keep a generic version of Provigil off the shelves.
March 26, 2025
Sotomayor Urges Caution On Nondelegation Doctrine Revamp

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor cautioned her colleagues during oral arguments Wednesday against using a challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's administration of a broadband subsidy program as a way to resurrect the long-dormant nondelegation doctrine. Several conservative justices, however, seemed willing to disregard that admonition.
March 26, 2025
Supreme Court Skeptical Of Nixing FCC Subsidy Fund

Conservative justices took aim Wednesday at rising costs in the country's multibillion-dollar phone and broadband subsidy system, questioning whether lawmakers put meaningful limits on the program's growth, but some argued the fund works just like others created by Congress that rely on revenues from industry fees.
March 26, 2025
Apple Cites Amazon Ruling To Toss Web App Antitrust Suit

Apple is hoping the Ninth Circuit will allow it to wash its hands of a proposed antitrust class action accusing it of preventing iPhones from running web-based apps for the same reason the court just refused to revive a consumer antitrust action over Amazon's fulfillment service, according to a recent filing.
March 26, 2025
Judge Tosses Some Wage-Fix Claims Against Meat Packers

A Colorado federal judge on Wednesday ruled that plaintiffs alleging meat producers conspired to fix industry wages can't recover under certain claims for conduct that happened before January 2020, finding an amended complaint raised a new conspiracy for which the companies weren't on notice they could be held liable.
March 26, 2025
Judge Knocks Amazon For Mislabeled Docs In Antitrust Suits

Amazon.com Inc. must hand over dozens of records previously flagged as confidential to the consumers in a series of class actions alleging antitrust violations, a Washington federal judge has ruled, concluding that the e-commerce giant wrongly marked the documents as "attorney-client communications or attorney-work product."
March 26, 2025
Baker McKenzie Partner Joins DOJ Antitrust Leadership Team

The new head of antitrust enforcement at the U.S. Department of Justice has landed a Baker McKenzie partner for her leadership team who previously worked in the office during the administration of Barack Obama.
March 26, 2025
Coalition Says Trump Admin Flouted Federal Rehiring Order

The Trump administration responded to an injunction compelling it to rehire over 15,000 fired probationary employees by placing them on leave, not bringing them back to work, a coalition of advocates for the workers told a California federal judge Wednesday, saying the administration hasn't complied with the injunction.
March 26, 2025
Walgreens, Kroger Claim Takeda Cut Illegal TWi Generics Deal

Walgreens, Kroger, Albertsons and H-E-B hit Takeda and TWi Pharmaceuticals with an antitrust suit in California federal court Tuesday, accusing the pharmaceutical companies of conspiring to delay the release of the generic version of Takeda's heartburn medication Dexilant, causing the retailers to pay more for the brand-name drug.
March 26, 2025
AGs Seek 1st OK For $39M Apotex Deal In Price-Fixing Case

A coalition of 50 state attorneys general on Wednesday asked a Connecticut federal judge to accept a $39.1 million deal settling claims that pharmaceutical company Apotex Corp. schemed with others to fix generic-drug prices, with 70% earmarked for a restitution fund and 30% for consumer notices and attorney fees.
March 26, 2025
False COVID Cure Claims No Longer Feds' 'Current Priority'

The Trump administration has abandoned another case targeting allegedly false claims that an over-the-counter product could treat, or even cure, COVID-19 by dropping its case against a one-man herbal tea operation.
March 26, 2025
Susman Godfrey, Kelley Drye Attys Named FTC Deputies

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson further filled out his senior leadership Wednesday with the announcement of deputy directors for the bureaus of Competition and Consumer Protection, filled respectively by a Susman Godfrey LLP associate and a partner at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP.

Expert Analysis

Series

NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

In 2024's final quarter, the New York State Department of Financial Services published guidance on mitigating the rising cybersecurity risks of artificial intelligence and remote technology workers with North Korean ties, and the state attorney general launched an antitrust investigation into Capital One's proposed Discover merger, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
Series

Exercising On My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While I originally came to the Peloton bike for exercise, one cycling instructor’s teachings have come to serve as a road map for practicing law thoughtfully and mindfully, which has opened opportunities for growth and change in my career, says Andrea Kirshenbaum at Littler.
3 Factors Affecting Retail M&A Deals In 2025

Retailers considering mergers and acquisitions this year face an evolving antitrust environment, including a new administration under President-elect Donald Trump, revised merger guidelines and a precedent set last year by a canceled $8.5 billion handbag merger, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
FTC Picks Augur Pro-Business Bent For Much Of Economy

President-elect Donald Trump's choice of two top Federal Trade Commission officials suggests a business-friendly climate for a significant portion of the U.S. economy, with noteworthy exceptions of continued scrutiny of healthcare and Big Tech companies, excluding artificial intelligence, say attorneys at BCLP.
Top 10 Legal Issues This Year For Transportation Industry GCs

General counsel must carefully consider numerous legal and policy challenges facing the automotive and transportation industry in the year to come, especially while navigating new technologies, regulations and global markets, says Francesco Liberatore at Squire Patton.
Exploring Venue Strategy For Trump-Era Regulatory Litigation

Litigation will likely play a prominent role in shaping policy outcomes during the second Trump administration, and stakeholders have several tools at their disposal to steer regulatory litigation toward more favorable venues, say attorneys at Covington.
What 2024's Noncompete Turmoil Means For Banks In 2025

A look back at the most significant legal challenges to the enforceability of various restrictive covenants like noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements in 2024 can help financial institutions address the use of these critical tools this year, say attorneys at Maynard Nexsen.
Searching For Insight On Requested Google Chrome Remedy

The potential for Google to divest its Chrome browser — a remedy requested by the Justice Department following a D.C. federal court’s finding the company is a monopolist — has drawn both criticism and endorsement, but legal precedent likely supports the former, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
Opinion

3 New Year's Resolutions For Antitrust Agencies To Consider

James Fredricks at Skadden rings in 2025 with his wish list for the federal antitrust agencies, starting with a provision for a presumptive safe harbor for information sharing.
FTC Focus: A Changing Of The Guard

While rigorous antitrust enforcement is unlikely to slow down at the Federal Trade Commission, the focus will undoubtedly change, including when it comes to Big Tech, as Andrew Ferguson prepares to take the reins from Chair Lina Khan, say attorneys at Proskauer.
Series

Playing Esports Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Competing in a global esports tournament at Wimbledon last year not only fulfilled my childhood dream, but also sharpened skills that are essential to my day job, including strategic thinking, confidence and networking, says AJ Schuyler at Jackson Lewis.
An Associate's Guide To Career Development In 2025

As the new year begins, associates at all levels should consider establishing career metrics, fostering key relationships and employing other specific strategies to help move through the complexities of the legal profession with confidence and emerge as trailblazers, say EJ Stern and Amanda George at Fractional Law Firm.
5 Antitrust Issues For In-House Counsel In 2025

Attorneys at Squire Patton evaluate the top areas where U.S. antitrust policy is likely to change in the next 12 months, including major challenges to the Federal Trade Commission's authority that could reshape enforcement.
Reviewing 2024's Crucial Patent Law Developments

As 2024 draws to a close, significant rulings and policies aimed at modernizing long-standing legal practices or addressing emerging challenges have reached patent law, says Michael Ellenberger at Rothwell Figg.
Series

Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer

From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.