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Competition
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June 13, 2024
2nd Circ. Case Over NY Broadband Law Could Wrap Up
An agreement could soon be reached between internet providers and the New York attorney general's office that would avoid the need for further Second Circuit review of New York's controversial low-cost broadband law, court records show.
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June 13, 2024
Apple Wants Discovery Hearing Closed In IPhone Class Action
Apple is asking a California federal judge to close the courtroom during an upcoming discovery hearing in the ongoing antitrust class action it's facing from consumers, arguing that the proceeding is likely to reveal consumer data and billing information that should be kept out of public view.
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June 13, 2024
Judge OKs RBS, Lloyds Bank and Others' $1.9M Libor Deal
A New York federal judge has granted preliminary approval to a $1.9 million deal between lender plaintiffs and several large banks, including the Royal Banks of Scotland, Lloyds, and others, over their alleged role in manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate.
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June 13, 2024
Teva Wins Pause Of Order Ousting Patents From Orange Book
A New Jersey federal judge ordered on Thursday a 30-day stay of his Monday ruling that a handful of patents covering Teva-brand asthma inhalers were improperly listed in the federal Orange Book, saying he wanted the matter to reach the Federal Circuit in the most orderly way possible.
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June 13, 2024
CVS Dodges Discovery Audit In Generic Drug Collusion Suit
A federal judge declined to make CVS hire a forensic auditor to evaluate its compliance with information demands in a lawsuit alleging it colluded with drugmakers to keep Medicare beneficiaries from accessing certain generic drugs, despite a whistleblower bemoaning "woefully deficient" discovery on the pharmacy chain's part.
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June 13, 2024
Verizon Opposes AT&T's FirstNet As 4.9 GHz Band Manager
Verizon is done letting proxies speak for it in the war of words over a plan to make AT&T's FirstNet the national manager of the 4.9 gigahertz public safety band, telling the Federal Communications Commission in a new filing that the idea would disrupt the public safety spectrum marketplace.
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June 13, 2024
Blackstone's $10B AIR Buy Gets Nod From Top 2 Proxy Firms
Denver-based Apartment Income REIT Corp.'s shareholders have recommendations from the two leading proxy advisory firms to approve an agreement to sell off the real estate investment trust to private equity giant Blackstone for $10 billion, the company announced June 13.
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June 13, 2024
EU Makes First Ever Formal Pharma Price-Fixing Complaint
European Union antitrust authorities issued their first ever price-fixing complaint in the pharmaceutical industry Thursday, going after the only company that did not agree to a €13.4 million ($14.4 million) settlement in October.
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June 13, 2024
IBM Resets Antitrust Review Clock For $6.4B HashiCorp Buy
IBM has refiled the notice of its proposed $6.4 billion purchase of HashiCorp to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, resetting the 30-day review clock for enforcers to review the deal, according to a HashiCorp proxy statement filed Thursday.
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June 13, 2024
UK Digital Markets Law Will Spur Group Consumer Litigation
Hastily passed legislation that equipped the competition regulator with the clout to punish companies for breaches of consumer protection will probably spur litigation, lawyers say, although claims will be limited for now after the proposal to extend the class action scheme was abandoned.
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June 12, 2024
Tillis Told Drug Patents Are Too Complex For Easy Answers
When and how generic drugs enter the marketplace varies widely among different drugs and isn't necessarily related to how many patents are covering those drugs, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said Wednesday in a report requested by a top member of the U.S. Senate's Intellectual Property Subcommittee.
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June 12, 2024
NFL Exec Denies League Fixed Sunday Ticket Price At Trial
One of the NFL's top executives denied on the witness stand Wednesday in a California federal courtroom that the league dictated the cost of the DirecTV Sunday Ticket package, pushing back when an attorney for subscribers bringing multibillion-dollar antitrust claims suggested some internal emails are evidence the league fixed the price.
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June 12, 2024
Texas Judge 'Exasperated' By Parties In Skiplagged Suit
An "exasperated" Texas federal judge on Wednesday ordered American Airlines and airfare search engine Skiplagged Inc. into mediation after the parties ran into their sixth discovery dispute in litigation around Skiplagged's alleged unauthorized ticket sales, saying the court didn't want to referee "countless discovery disputes used as litigation tactics."
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June 12, 2024
Axos Bank Can't Arbitrate 'Bait & Switch' Suit, Customers Say
Customers suing Axos urged a federal judge not to let the bank arbitrate their claims in a consolidated dispute over how it handled interest rates on savings deposit accounts offered through online banking division UFB Direct, arguing that the court, not an arbitrator, must decide arbitrability.
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June 12, 2024
FTC Tells DC Circ. It Can Modify $5B Meta Privacy Deal
The Federal Trade Commission told the D.C. Circuit on Wednesday that it has the authority to reopen its in-house proceedings in order to revise a $5 billion privacy settlement with Meta Platforms, saying the courts do not have oversight of the agency's administrative order.
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June 12, 2024
Trade Group Wants Out Of Mattress Conspiracy Suit
A trade association for mattress manufacturers has asked a Utah federal court to dismiss it from an antitrust suit alleging the spread of false information from an importer that has landed back in the Utah court from a trip to the Tenth Circuit.
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June 12, 2024
FTC's Amazon Prime Trial Moved To June 2025 Amid Doc Fight
A Washington federal judge agreed Wednesday to push back to June 2025 a high-stakes bench trial over the Federal Trade Commission's claims Amazon.com Inc. tricks consumers into enrolling in its Prime service, delaying the trial by months after the FTC accused Amazon of delaying discovery production.
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June 12, 2024
League's Antitrust Case Against US Soccer, MLS Survives
Major League Soccer and the sport's U.S. governing body must face allegations that they colluded to impose standards in a lopsided manner in order to hamper the North American Soccer League, after a New York federal judge refused to toss the claim.
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June 12, 2024
Texas Anesthesia Co. Appealing To Duck FTC Suit To 5th Circ.
U.S. Anesthesia Partners Inc. gave notice Wednesday that it will ask the Fifth Circuit to review a Texas federal judge's mid-May decision refusing to toss Federal Trade Commission allegations of a monopolistic "roll-up" of Lone Star State anesthesia practices.
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June 12, 2024
GOP, Dems Fight Over Climate Investment 'Collusion'
House Judiciary Democrats and Republicans traded barbs and competing staff reports Wednesday over investment industry initiatives to combat climate change that the GOP called a "climate cartel" and their partisan rivals said is simply responsible, and voluntary, investing.
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June 12, 2024
Lipitor Buyers Get Final OK For $93M Deal In Antitrust Fight
A New Jersey federal judge gave final approval Wednesday to a $93 million settlement between a class of buyers of Lipitor and Pfizer, resolving their claims in sprawling antitrust litigation that Pfizer conspired with a drug manufacturer to delay the release of a cheaper generic version of Lipitor and monopolize the market.
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June 12, 2024
32 AGs Urge Justices Take Up Okla. PBM Law Fight
Thirty-two attorneys general urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Oklahoma's petition for review of a Tenth Circuit decision holding that federal law preempted portions of a state law regulating pharmacy benefit managers, arguing the justices needed to intervene to resolve a circuit split.
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June 12, 2024
FTC Asks 4th Circ. To Pause Novant Hospital Purchase
The Federal Trade Commission has asked the Fourth Circuit to pause Novant Health's purchase of a North Carolina hospital while enforcers appeal an order from the lower court that refused to put the deal on hold for the commission's in-house merger challenge.
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June 12, 2024
Sen. Dems Seek Criminal Penalties For PE Hospital 'Looters'
A pair of Democratic senators are targeting private equity's role in the healthcare industry, introducing new legislation Tuesday that would give federal and state enforcers new tools to go after firms they say are "looting" hospital systems and other providers, including possibly jailing executives if patient deaths result.
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June 12, 2024
Matador Paying $1.9B For EnCap Delaware Basin Assets
Dallas-based Matador Resources Co. said Wednesday it has agreed to pay just over $1.9 billion for a subsidiary of the EnCap Investments portfolio company Ameredev II Parent, taking control of oil and natural gas producing properties across the Delaware Basin.
Expert Analysis
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FTC AI Inquiry Signals Intensified Focus On Emerging Tech
The Federal Trade Commission's recent inquiry into investments and partnerships between Big Tech companies and artificial intelligence startups appears to be directed at guiding future enforcement decisions in competition, privacy and consumer protection — and three principles discussed at a related tech summit give insight on the agency's approach, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout
While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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Assessing Merger Guideline Feedback With Machine Learning
Large language modeling appears to show that public sentiment matches agency intent around the new merger control guidelines from the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Justice Department, says Andrew Sfekas at Cornerstone Research.
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Series
Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.
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What Cos. Evaluating M&A Can Glean From Latest HSR Report
The recently released Hart-Scott-Rodino report for fiscal year 2022 helps unearth important data points for companies as they evaluate potential transactions, including that, despite a historically low enforcement rate, the number of actions exceeds the number of second requests for the first time in nearly 20 years, say Ryan Quillian and John Kendrick at Covington.
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Algorithmic Pricing Programs Caught In Antitrust Crosshairs
The Justice Department's investigation into software company RealPage follows a host of federal antitrust cases alleging that property owners and casino hotel operators use the same proprietary software programs to fix and maintain pricing, which means algorithmic pricing programs are considered a key price-fixing tool in the digital age, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift
As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.
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UK Court Ruling Reinforces CMA's Info-Gathering Powers
An English appeals court's recent decision in the BMW and Volkswagen antitrust cases affirmed that the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority can request information from entities outside the U.K., reinstating an important implement in the CMA's investigative toolkit, say lawyers at White & Case.
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5 Reasons Associates Shouldn't Take A Job Just For Money
As a number of BigLaw firms increase salary scales for early-career attorneys, law students and lateral associates considering new job offers should weigh several key factors that may matter more than financial compensation, say Albert Tawil at Lateral Hub and Ruvin Levavi at Power Forward.
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How Biotech Deals May Help Competition, Despite FTC View
The Federal Trade Commission's complaint against Sanofi's proposed partnership with Maze Therapeutics highlights increasing skepticism of so-called killer acquisitions, but a closer look reveals potentially legitimate reasons behind why entities might decide to delay or abandon the development of acquired products, say consultants at Analysis Group.
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New SDNY Whistleblower Program May Be A Game-Changer
A new pilot program in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York promises to immunize from prosecution certain individuals who blow the whistle on financial crimes and corruption, and if similar self-disclosure programs are any indication, this significant new policy may measurably increase white collar investigations, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.
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Series
Playing Competitive Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experience playing competitive tennis has highlighted why prioritizing exercise and stress relief, maintaining perspective under pressure, and supporting colleagues in pursuit of a common goal are all key aspects of championing a successful legal career, says Madhumita Datta at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Djerassi On Super Bowl 52
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Ramy Djerassi discusses how Super Bowl 52, in which the Philadelphia Eagles prevailed over the New England Patriots, provides an apt metaphor for alternative dispute resolution processes in commercial business cases.
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Unraveling The Bundled Benefits Of Retail Memberships
The recent prevalence of paid retail memberships and the associated findings of a consumer survey suggest that assessing consumer preferences and welfare may be important when considering resolution mechanisms in antitrust contexts, say Rosa M. Abrantes-Metz at Berkeley Research Group, Mame Maloney at The Brattle Group and Jeff Brazell at the University of Utah.
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Changes To Note In New AAA Mass Arbitration Rules
The American Arbitration Association updated its mass arbitration rules earlier this month — clarifying issues that were previously being litigated in front of the AAA, and significantly streamlining the process of getting to a merits arbitration for claimants who have suffered similar wrongs and are bound by mandatory arbitration clauses, say attorneys at Labaton Keller.