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
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
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
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
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 ,
Request For Information
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, which meet or exceed...more
1/26/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Fees ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Private Equity ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Statutory Violations ,
The Clayton Act ,
Threshold Requirements ,
Venture Capital
Recently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has focused on the potential harm that loyalty discounts and bundled prices could cause to competitors and their access to customers. A vendor offers a bundled discount when it...more
Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, for the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division, has been openly and repeatedly skeptical of merger remedies and settlements: “Merger remedies short of blocking a...more
With the end of summer and fall right around the corner, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Antitrust Division is gearing up for several crucial displays of its criminal enforcement priorities across multiple...more
9/13/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bid Rigging ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Government Investigations ,
Monopolization ,
Price-Fixing ,
Sherman Act ,
White Collar Crimes
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ), Antitrust Division announced that they will hold three workshops regarding their jointly issued Draft Merger Guidelines. The first virtual workshop will be...more
8/30/2023
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recent multipronged challenge to EQT Corporation’s acquisition from the Quantum Energy Partners private equity investment group “marks the FTC’s first case in 40 years that enforces...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) jointly issued new draft Merger Guidelines on July 19. The draft Merger Guidelines were created with the goal "to better reflect how the agencies...more
8/4/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Comment Period ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Draft Guidance ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
NAICS ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Vertical Mergers
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division recently suffered another setback in its most recent effort to secure criminal convictions for labor-side violations of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. In perhaps the DOJ’s...more
On April 3, the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division (DOJ) filed a complaint against and settlement with Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Activision), alleging the company violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act....more
4/10/2023
/ Activision ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Contract Drafting ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
eSports ,
Final Judgment ,
Salary Caps ,
Sherman Act ,
Tax Liability ,
Video Games ,
Wage Withholding
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division recently suffered another setback in its most recent effort to secure criminal convictions for labor-side violations of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Having finally secured a...more
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act (the “State AG Venue Act”). This law puts all businesses at risk of defending antitrust lawsuits across different jurisdictions...more
As a sport, golf has rarely, if ever, been described as "cutting edge." But in the courtroom, golf may be at the forefront of the latest antitrust developments. In the coming months, the legal war unfolding in professional...more
The Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division recently secured its first criminal conviction for a labor-side violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act after VDA OC LLC (VDA) entered a guilty plea....more
On Tuesday, December 6, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Antitrust Division, announced the unsealing of criminal charges against 12 individuals in the Southern District of Texas as part of an 11-year price fixing and...more
In early September, the Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court’s judgment for defendants Burger King Corporation, Burger King Worldwide, Inc., and their ultimate parent Restaurant Brands International, Inc....more
9/26/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Burger King ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
No-Poaching ,
Sherman Act
The Biden administration's Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (DOJ) continues a practice largely begun under the Trump administration of intervening in private litigation and requesting permission to file statements of...more
The Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and several state attorneys general are challenging the American Airlines Group, Inc. (American) collaboration with competitor JetBlue Airways Corp. (JetBlue)....more
On July 9, President Biden signed an executive order on promoting competition in the American economy, listing broad priorities for antitrust enforcement. In conjunction with this order, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and...more
7/16/2021
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Biden Administration ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Executive Orders ,
FCC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Mergers ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
USDA ,
Vertical Mergers