In July 2021, the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division brought its first-ever criminal no-poach market allocation case. The Antitrust Division indicted DaVita, Inc. and its former CEO Kent Thiry on three counts of criminal conspiracy to allocate the market for employees by entering into non-solicitation agreements with three separate companies. This was an unprecedented and landmark criminal conspiracy case. The McDermott trial team, in collaboration with other counsel, secured a complete victory for Thiry on April 15, 2022, when the jury found DaVita and Thiry not guilty on all charges following a two-week trial.

Since this was the first criminal case ever brought to trial under the Antitrust Division’s new approach to “no-poach” hiring agreements, questions remain about what this means for companies, what the DOJ will do in the future and what lessons can be learned in terms of protecting companies moving forward.

Join members of Thiry’s trial team, Jeffrey Stone, Daniel Campbell and Justin Murphy, for a panel discussion about their first-hand experience securing a victory in the first case of its kind and key takeaways to protect your business moving forward.

Discussion topics will include:

• The DOJ’s enforcement priorities in labor markets
• Legal battlefield for “no-poach” prosecutions
• How our team overcame challenges to secure a win
• Potential effects of this victory on the DOJ’s approach in future labor cases
• Whether per se treatment is appropriate in labor antitrust cases
• What clients can do to both avoid and defend antitrust cases involving employees

Read more about the case in our On The Subject article, Views and Lessons from the Trenches of the First Criminal No-Poach Trial.

SPEAKERS