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Competition
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July 09, 2024
Amazon Gets 'Buy Box' Rigging Case Tossed, For Now
A Washington federal court has dismissed a proposed class action accusing Amazon of using its "Buy Box" feature to deceive consumers after finding that the two men bringing the claims failed to include any details about the transactions they made and allegedly overpaid for.
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July 09, 2024
Healthcare Cases To Watch: A 2024 Midyear Report
Courts across the U.S. this year will oversee key cases to the healthcare industry, from multidistrict litigation over the Change Healthcare hack to a challenge of a state gender-affirming care ban at the Supreme Court. Here are the healthcare cases to watch in the second half of 2024.
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July 09, 2024
FTC Is Denied Amazon's Instructions On Signal Use, For Now
A Washington federal judge refused Tuesday to give the Federal Trade Commission a peek into what it contends is the extensive use of Signal by Jeff Bezos and other top Amazon.com executives to hide communications relevant to a monopolization lawsuit, preferring to order deposition testimony on that use first.
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July 09, 2024
Google Says Social Media Ruling Hurts Common Carrier Case
Google is telling an Ohio state court that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling bolsters its case against being reclassified as a common carrier.
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July 09, 2024
FCC Majority Takes Heat From House GOP Over New Regs
Democratic leaders of the Federal Communications Commission defended their regulatory policies Tuesday against House GOP critics who accused the agency of tacking in a partisan direction and passing new rules that Republicans said exceed the agency's statutory limits.
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July 09, 2024
Aetna Beats Blue Cross In NC Health Plan Contract Battle
An administrative judge affirmed North Carolina's switch of its employee and retiree health plan to Aetna, reasoning Blue Cross Blue Shield failed to prove state officials made errors favoring the competitor when evaluating bids.
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July 09, 2024
FTC Says Drug Middlemen Inflate Costs, Squeeze Pharmacies
The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that its study of pharmacy benefit managers has shown that six large companies now control 95% of all prescriptions filled in the U.S., allowing them to profit at the expense of patients and independent pharmacies.
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July 09, 2024
Chicken Buyers' Cost-Saving Deal With Producers Approved
An Illinois federal judge granted final approval Tuesday to settlements direct chicken buyers struck with producers that beat their price-fixing claims at summary judgment or trial, saving them about $1 million in costs they could have otherwise owed the companies.
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July 09, 2024
House Dems Seek Info From DOI Over Alleged Shale Cartel
House Democrats sitting on the House Natural Resources Committee penned a letter Tuesday seeking information from the U.S. Department of the Interior concerning eight oil companies accused of colluding with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Companies to artificially inflate gas prices.
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July 09, 2024
Judge Calls Cost Of DOJ's Assa Abloy Market Study 'Insane'
A D.C. federal judge took the U.S. Department of Justice and its monitoring trustee to task Tuesday for their pursuit of an open-ended look at Assa Abloy's books to check for anticompetitive harms from a 2023 merger, excoriating budget estimates pricing the investigation at a minimum of $1.7 million.
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July 09, 2024
Goodwin Adds MoFo Antitrust, Fintech Leaders In DC
Goodwin Procter LLP has brought on three partners from Morrison Foerster LLP in Washington, D.C., including the chair of Morrison Foerster's antitrust litigation practice and the co-leader of its financial technology practice, the firm announced Monday.
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July 08, 2024
Smoke Shops Say Rivals Are Copying Name, Filching Goodwill
A Washington smoke chain has hit several rivals with trademark infringement lawsuits, accusing them of unauthorized use of its name, Smoke City, so they can lean on the goodwill it has developed with customers.
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July 08, 2024
Hyundai Falsely Inflates Electric Car Sale Growth, Dealers Say
Hyundai dealers filed a Robinson-Patman Act price discrimination suit in Illinois federal court Friday accusing the automotive giant of running a scheme to keep up the appearance of growing electric car sales by causing dealers to report fake sales and rewarding them with perks including discounts, popular models and coupons for customers.
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July 08, 2024
Assa Abloy Says No Monitor 'Blank Check' After Merger Deal
Assa Abloy on Monday reasserted its bid to rein in a monitoring trustee installed after the company settled a government merger challenge, arguing ahead of a court hearing that the government is aiming to roll back the parties' deal and carry out a more expansive investigation through the monitor.
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July 08, 2024
Texas Anesthesia Co. Can't Pause Or Appeal Suit, FTC Says
The Federal Trade Commission urged a Texas federal court not to pause its suit accusing U.S. Anesthesia Partners Inc. of a monopolistic "roll-up" of Lone Star State anesthesia practices, arguing the company can't appeal an order refusing to toss the case against it.
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July 08, 2024
Justices Told To Ignore 'Hopeless' Challenge To Antitrust Test
A group of wholesalers who say the makers of 5-Hour Energy illegally favored Costco in distributing the energy drink shots told the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to reject the drink-maker's certiorari petition, saying it asks the justices to take on the role of fact-finders.
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July 08, 2024
Kirkland, Fenwick Steer Lilly's $3.2B Morphic Acquisition
Eli Lilly and Co. unveiled Monday a $3.2 billion all-cash deal to acquire biopharmaceutical company Morphic Holding Inc., which is developing oral therapies to treat Crohn's disease and other bowel chronic diseases, in a 10-figure transaction guided by Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Fenwick & West LLP.
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July 08, 2024
Kirkland-Led Devon To Buy Grayson's Williston Biz For $5B
Devon Energy announced Monday that the Oklahoma-based public company has cut a $5 billion cash-and-stock deal to acquire private equity-backed Grayson Mill Energy's Williston Basin oil and gas business in a transaction guided by Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Vinson & Elkins LLP.
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July 08, 2024
Feds Aim To Expand Military Site List For Land Deal Reviews
The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Monday proposed putting 59 more military sites on its radar when it reviews real estate deals for national security issues, a move that comes on the heels of the White House's crackdown on a Chinese-owned cryptocurrency mine near a Wyoming air base.
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July 08, 2024
UK Clears Thermo Fisher's $3.1B Olink Buy
Britain's competition enforcer indicated Monday that it will not challenge Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.'s planned $3.1 billion bid for Swedish biotech firm Olink Holding AB after the agency launched an initial investigation of the deal earlier this year.
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July 08, 2024
Delivery Hero Says It Could Face €400M Antitrust Fine
International food ordering service Delivery Hero disclosed that it could be fined more than €400 million ($433.3 million) by European enforcers over alleged agreements with other online food delivery companies to split markets, share information and not hire workers from one another.
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July 08, 2024
Landowners Defend Wyo. Antitrust Claims Against Anadarko
Wyoming landowners accusing an Occidental Petroleum Corp. unit of antitrust behavior are urging a federal judge to reject its bid for a win on their state law claims as the case heads toward a trial.
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July 05, 2024
Miss. Casino Aims To Void Cherokee Ark. Gaming License
A Mississippi casino is asking a judge to void an Arkansas gaming license issued to Cherokee Nation Entertainment, arguing a county judge and other legislative officials were coerced into offering support for its casino proposal through an economic development agreement that forced them to back only one applicant.
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July 05, 2024
Antitrust Partner In Fatal Crash Remembered As A Mentor
Present and past colleagues this week remembered Molly Donovan, a partner at antitrust boutique Bona Law PC who died in a tragic accident earlier this month, as a powerhouse with an intricate understanding of antitrust matters who always maintained a positive outlook no matter what the status of a case.
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July 05, 2024
NFL Moves To Undo 'Runaway' $4.7B Sunday Ticket Verdict
The NFL urged a California judge Wednesday to cancel a jury's blockbuster $4.7 billion verdict that found it violated antitrust laws with its DirecTV Sunday Ticket package, saying the "irrational" award didn't match any of the damages models jurors were presented and confirms that the plaintiffs failed to prove their case.
Expert Analysis
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The Epic Antitrust Cases And Challenges Of Injunctive Relief
The Epic cases against Apple and Google offer a window into the courts' considerable challenges in Big Tech litigation and establishing injunctive relief that enhances competition and benefits consumers, say Kelly Lear Nordby and Jon Tomlin at Ankura Consulting.
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Decline In Same-Industry M&A Tells A Nuanced Policy Story
In light of newly available Hart-Scott-Rodino Act data suggesting that intraindustry mergers are down overall and pharmaceutical and hospital intraindustry transactions tend to face greater antitrust scrutiny than in the past, attorneys at Morgan Lewis explore whether Biden administration enforcement policies may be curbing pro-competitive strategic M&A.
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Behind The 'CVR Spin' Method Of Unlocking Assets In M&A
The spinoff of contingent value rights, or the CVR spin, can unlock secondary and noncore assets in public mergers and acquisitions, while resolving the market dislocation of some traditional divestitures, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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Opinion
European Union Criticisms Of The FCPA Are Misguided
Some in the European Union have criticized U.S. enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for what they perceive as jurisdictional overreach, but this appears to overlook the crucial fact that jurisdiction is voluntary, and critics should focus instead on the lack of equivalent laws in their own region, say John Joy and YuTong Wang at FTI Law.
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5 Models For Structuring Health Provider-Payor Partnerships
With recent data showing that the U.S. continues to spend more and get less for healthcare services compared to other industrialized nations, providers and payors should consider a variety of partnership structures that can help achieve the so-called triple aim of improving the health of individuals and populations while reducing per capita costs, says John Howard at Thompson Coburn.
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Litigation Inspiration: A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment
As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.
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Understanding Insurance Is Key To Limiting Antitrust Liability
As regulators signal their intent to continue last year's aggressive campaign of corporate antitrust litigation, businesses must make active management of their liability insurance policies, along with a firm knowledge of the limits of their coverage, central to their strategies for limiting the enormous financial risks of enforcement, say attorneys at Nossaman.
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What FTC's 'Killer Acquisition' Theory Means For Pharma Cos.
The Federal Trade Commission's recent lawsuit to block Sanofi's acquisition of a pharmaceutical treatment developed by Maze Therapeutics builds on previous enforcement actions and could indicate the agency's growing willingness to use its so-called killer acquisition theory against perceived attempts to eliminate nascent competition, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Series
Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.
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Assessing Chinese Cross-Border Data Transfers
Jet Deng and Ken Dai at Dacheng unpack the regulatory framework for cross-border data transfers in China, detailing the major systems at play, last year's policy adjustments, and an outlook and practice tips for businesses.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC
The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Opinion
There Is No NCAA Supremacy Clause, Especially For NIL
A recent Tennessee federal court ruling illustrates the NCAA's problematic position that its member schools should violate state law rather than its rules — and the organization's legal history with the dormant commerce clause raises a fundamental constitutional issue that will have to be resolved before attorneys can navigate NIL with confidence, says Patrick O’Donnell at HWG.
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Complying With Enforcers' Ephemeral Messaging Guidance
Given federal antitrust enforcers’ recently issued guidance on ephemeral messaging applications, organizations must take a proactive approach to preserving short-lived communications — or risk criminal obstruction charges and civil discovery sanctions, say attorneys at Manatt.
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BT Case May Shape UK Class Action Landscape
The first opt-out collective action trial commenced in Le Patourel v. BT in the U.K. Competition Appeal Tribunal last month, regarding BT's abuse of dominance by overcharging millions of customers, will likely provide clarification on damages and funder returns in collective actions, which could significantly affect the class action regime, say lawyers at RPC.
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Opinion
Suits Against Insulin Pricing Are Driven By Rebate Addiction
A growing wave of lawsuits filed by states, cities and counties against insulin manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers improperly allocate the blame for rising insulin costs, when in actuality the plaintiffs are partially responsible, says Dan Leonard at Granite Capitol Consulting.