In this episode of PE Pathways, Brandon Raphael, a partner from the firm’s Private Equity practice, is joined by fellow Partners Barbara Sicalides and Joe Farside from the firm's Antitrust practice group to discuss antitrust...more
In what may be a surprise to those who thought that restrictions on the use of noncompetes would go away with the change in administration, this week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the agency will form a...more
3/4/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Policies ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Unfair Competition ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
As state legislatures introduce legislation expanding the reach of their antitrust laws and state attorneys general ramp up their use of antitrust investigations and litigation, the legal landscape continues to become more...more
2/28/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
California ,
Competition ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Healthcare ,
Jurisdiction ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Settlement ,
State Attorneys General ,
Unfair Competition
At the end of the Biden administration, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a settlement with private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson, and Stowe, and several of its affiliates (Welsh Carson), resolving what the...more
Practically on the eve of the inauguration, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (DOJ), jointly issued antitrust guidelines for business activities affecting workers. The FTC's...more
1/17/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employees ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the annual changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act notification thresholds. The HSR Act requires all persons contemplating certain mergers or acquisitions that meet or exceed...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (DOJ) announced a record-setting $5.6 million gun-jumping fine related to Verdun Oil Company II LLC’s acquisition of EP Energy LLC. Although...more
1/9/2025
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fines ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Agreements ,
Oil & Gas
Within hours of each other, an Oregon federal district court followed by a Washington state court enjoined the $24.6 billion merger of the Kroger and Albertsons grocery chains. The Oregon court adopted the controversial 2023...more
At the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) open meeting this month, agency staff and commissioners discussed the recently launched " Merger Portal." The portal is available on the FTC's website and provides the public with an...more
A New York federal court’s recent decision to enjoin the merger of two fashion companies gave the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the 2023 Merger Guidelines a boost. Since the issuance of the draft merger guidelines in...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a notice of appeal of the Northern District of Texas’s decision granting plaintiffs’ summary judgment motion and “setting aside” the agency’s rule banning nearly all employee...more
After what is described as “intense negotiations” among the commissioners, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has unanimously approved a substantial overhaul to the rules governing the documents and information that must be...more
After what is described as “intense negotiations” among the commissioners, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has unanimously approved a substantial overhaul to the rules governing the documents and information that must be...more
In a complete victory for plaintiffs, a Texas court permanently enjoined the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) rule banning nearly all employee noncompetes. In the absence of the court’s decision, the rule had been scheduled...more
8/22/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Restrictive Covenants
In direct conflict with a recent Texas court ruling, on July 23, an Eastern District of Pennsylvania court denied ATS Tree Services’ motion for a preliminary injunction to stay the effective date of the Federal Trade...more
7/26/2024
/ Chevron Deference ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Pennsylvania ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 5
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) latest policy statement aims to dictate the outcome of contract negotiations between franchisors and their franchisees and to limit the potential negative impact on franchisees of...more
As workers were leaving their offices for the Fourth of July holiday, the Northern District of Texas issued its much-anticipated order preliminarily enjoining the effective date of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC)...more
Federal and state antitrust enforcers, as well as private plaintiffs, are actively investigating and challenging both the companies using pricing algorithms, and the software vendors or the data analytics firms providing the...more
6/14/2024
/ Algorithms ,
Analytics ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Reporting ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dismissal With Prejudice ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Popular ,
Pricing ,
Sherman Act ,
Software ,
State Attorneys General ,
Statutory Violations
A Texas federal court dismissed the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) lawsuit against private equity (PE) owner, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (Welsh Carson), while allowing to proceed the agency’s challenge against U.S....more
6/12/2024
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
FTCA Section 13(b) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Insurance Contracts ,
Monopolization ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Private Equity Firms
On May 9, Assistant Attorney General (AG) Jonathan Kanter announced that Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division has formed a Task Force on Healthcare Monopolies and Collusion (HCMC). The initiative will bring...more
There has been a great deal of press about the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) vote to ban employee non-competition provisions and policies. While the FTC describes the rule as a comprehensive ban, it acknowledges that the...more
4/30/2024
/ Banks ,
Credit Unions ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Section 5 ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted along party lines (3 to 2) to ban all worker noncompetition provisions. The final rule applies to all employees, including senior executives, and will become effective 120 days after...more
4/25/2024
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that the commission will vote April 23 on its proposed rule to ban noncompete agreements. While the final rule may differ from the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued in...more
Speaking at the Global Competition Review: Law Leaders Global Summit last month, Commissioner Alvaro M. Bedoya of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) argued that the FTC could — and should — combat worker misclassification...more
4/1/2024
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Competition ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
NLRA ,
NLRB
On March 5, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hosted a public workshop titled “Private Capital, Public Impact: An FTC Workshop on Private Equity in Health Care.” The event is part of the agency’s effort to publicize and...more
3/8/2024
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Hospital Mergers ,
Investment ,
Private Equity ,
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