On October 10, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a unanimous 5-0 vote to finalize changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) premerger notification program, including changes to the HSR form and associated...more
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint and proposed consent decree alleging that Legends Hospitality Parent Holdings prematurely acquired beneficial ownership – often referred to as “gun jumping” – in connection...more
On August 23, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sued real estate software company RealPage alleging the company’s software reduces competition between landlords, resulting in inflated rents and less favorable lease terms...more
In summer 2023, fans of Taylor Swift made international headlines when they took to social media to express their outrage at the ticket-buying experience for “The Eras Tour.” Fans of many artists have expressed their strong...more
Following an almost yearlong review into artificial intelligence (AI) foundation models, and the publication of its initial report in October 2023, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published an updated...more
The Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act thresholds that govern which mergers & acquisitions must be reported to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will increase slightly more than 7% in February...more
As a capstone on the Biden administration’s aggressive 2023 antitrust enforcement, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly issued revised Merger Guidelines before the holidays, replacing the...more
In the wake of major bank failures in the US, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has signaled that it plans to step up antitrust enforcement of bank mergers. In June 2023, the DOJ’s Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust...more
On July 19, 2023, the US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission released draft revised merger guidelines in an effort to support the Biden administration’s aggressive antitrust enforcement agenda....more
On June 27, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a proposal for a radical overhaul to the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) premerger notification program that, if adopted, would dramatically increase costs, burden and...more
The European Union’s top court recently confirmed that an M&A transaction that does not require mandatory pre-merger authorization may be investigated post-merger on suspicion that the transaction involved an ‘abuse’ of the...more
Following the US Department of Justice’s first criminal conviction for labor market antitrust violations in October 2022, and with scrutiny of labor agreements increasing internationally, the UK Competition and Markets...more
The Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act thresholds, which govern when acquisitions must be reported to the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission, will increase slightly more than 10% in February 2023. The minimum...more
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission published a proposed rule that would categorically ban noncompete agreements between employers and a broad class of “workers,” including independent contractors and unpaid...more
1/24/2023
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Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 5 ,
Unfair Competition
On December 29, 2022, President Joe Biden signed a funding bill into law that includes provisions that significantly change the filing fees for mergers & acquisitions notifiable under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act.
For...more
On October 31, the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) delivered on its promise to pursue criminal enforcement of Section 2 of the Sherman Act when it secured a guilty plea from a highway paving...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division secured its first win in a criminal enforcement of labor market antitrust violations on October 27, 2022, when nurse staffing company VDA OC pleaded guilty to violating...more
In April 2022, Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, head of the US Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, fired a warning shot to companies: “For too long, our Section 8 enforcement has essentially been limited to...more
On September 29, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission – alongside a bipartisan coalition of 10 state attorneys general – sued Corteva and Syngenta, challenging “loyalty programs” pursuant to which two of the largest pesticide...more