Lisa Phelan at Morrison & Foerster LLP

A Parting Gift to Labor Markets: Outgoing Antitrust Enforcers Issue Revised Guidelines on Practices Affecting Workers, But Will...

In the final days of the Biden administration, the FTC and DOJ jointly issued antitrust guidelines on business practices that impact workers that replace the 2016 Antitrust Guidance for Human Resource Professionals, which...more

2/3/2025 / Antitrust Provisions , Antitrust Violations , Biden Administration , Competition , Department of Justice (DOJ) , Employment Contract , False Statements , Federal Trade Commission (FTC) , Franchises , Human Resources Professionals , Independent Contractors , Labor Reform , No-Poaching , Non-Compete Agreements , Restrictive Covenants , Trump Administration , Unfair Competition , Wage-Fixing

Quarterly Cartel Catch-Up – New Year, New Administration

The new year marks the transition from the Biden administration and its whole-of-government approach to antitrust enforcement, to the return of President Trump. To spearhead his administration’s antitrust enforcement efforts,...more

Information Sharing, Pricing Algorithms, and Antitrust Liability: Where Is the Line?

Antitrust enforcers and private plaintiffs over the past few years have pursued increasingly aggressive theories of liability based on information exchange and the use of algorithmic pricing and revenue management software....more

12/20/2024 / Algorithms , Antitrust Division , Antitrust Violations , Artificial Intelligence , Competition , Corporate Counsel , Department of Justice (DOJ) , Enforcement , Federal Trade Commission (FTC) , Information Sharing , Price-Fixing , Rental Property , Trump Administration

Quarterly Cartel Catch-Up: Summer Surge Foreshadows Enforcement Intrigue

Despite the summer doldrums, cartel enforcers around the world had several notable enforcement actions and, perhaps more importantly, signaled a busy fall and winter. In the United States, the Department of Justice’s...more

11/1/2024 / Algorithms , Antitrust Division , Bid Rigging , Cartels , Competition , Corporate Counsel , Dawn Raids , Department of Justice (DOJ) , EU , Healthcare , Italy , Mexican Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) , Pharmaceutical Industry , Philippines , Popular , Price-Fixing , Procurement Collusion Strike Force , Singapore , Wage-Fixing

Q3 2024: Quarterly Cartel Catch-Up

Despite the summer doldrums, cartel enforcers around the world had several notable enforcement actions and, perhaps more importantly, signaled a busy fall and winter. In the United States, the Department of Justice’s...more

Quarterly Cartel Catch-Up: 2024 Mid-Year Global Review

At the mid-year point, 2024 is shaping up to be an eventful year in cartel enforcement. In the United States, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)’s Antitrust Division (Division) enjoyed two significant victories and finally...more

Federal Court Puts FTC Non-Compete Ban on Hold

Judge Ada Brown in the Northern District of Texas has stayed the effective date of the FTC’s Non-Compete Rule and granted plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction against the Rule, effective July 3, 2024. The court found...more

7/5/2024 / Federal Bans , Federal Trade Commission (FTC) , FTC Act , Lack of Authority , Non-Compete Agreements , Texas

Potential Exceptions Under FTC’s Non-Compete Ban

On April 24, 2024, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) promulgated its final rule prohibiting non-competes for most workers in the United States (the “Final Rule”). The Final Rule raises several issues, including...more

5/2/2024 / Competition , Corporate Counsel , Employment Contract , Federal Trade Commission (FTC) , Franchises , Non-Compete Agreements , Non-Disclosure Agreement , Nonprofits , Restrictive Covenants , Selling a Business , Unfair Competition

FTC Issues Final Rule Banning Non-Competes

On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (the “Commission”) voted to issue its final rule (the “Final Rule”) barring non-competes for most workers in the United States, with exceptions for non-competes entered into in...more

4/24/2024 / Biden Administration , Chamber of Commerce , Executive Orders , Federal Register , Federal Trade Commission (FTC) , Final Rules , Franchises , NLRA , Non-Compete Agreements , Selling a Business

Full Steam Ahead for Cartel Enforcement in 2024

As anticipated, cartel enforcement is ramping up at the start of 2024 and investigations relating to artificial intelligence (AI) are taking center stage. Leadership of both the broader Department of Justice (DOJ) and the...more

California Announces Intent to Criminally Prosecute Antitrust Violations

In the latest development signaling California’s increasing efforts to police antitrust violations, on March 6, 2024, Senior Assistant Attorney General Paula Blizzard announced that the California Office of the Attorney...more

3/8/2024 / Antitrust Violations , California , Cartwright Act , Corporate Counsel , Criminal Conspiracy , Criminal Prosecution , Department of Justice (DOJ) , White Collar Crimes

FTC and DOJ Antitrust Division Will Update Guidance on Companies’ Preservation Responsibilities for Collaboration Tools and...

On January 26, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (the “Division”) announced that both agencies are updating language in critical documents for civil and criminal...more

2/2/2024 / Antitrust Division , Antitrust Provisions , Collaboration , Data Preservation , Department of Justice (DOJ) , Document Preservation Notices , e-Discovery , Federal Trade Commission (FTC) , Information Sharing , Instant Messaging Apps

Quarterly Cartel Catch-Up: What to Watch in 2024

The year 2023 ended with a bang in the cartel space, with a federal court of appeals upending what was long believed to be the scope of conduct that should be considered per se under the Sherman Act. The new year, 2024,...more

Quarterly Cartel Catch-Up: Recent Developments in Criminal Antitrust for Busy Corporate Counsel ‒ 3rd Quarter 2023

The third quarter of 2023 was eventful for both domestic and international cartel enforcers. In the United States, the Department of Justice (DOJ) continues to revamp policies to sharpen its enforcement efforts. On...more

Quarterly Cartel Catch-Up: Recent Developments in Criminal Antitrust for Busy Corporate Counsel ‒ 2nd Quarter 2023

At this mid-point of 2023, and now several months on from the ABA’s Spring Antitrust conference, there have been several notable developments concerning cartel enforcement, as new leadership settles in at the U.S. Department...more

Sights and Sounds from the Antitrust Section’s 2023 Spring Meeting

Antitrust practitioners from around the world gathered in Washington, D.C. the week of March 27, 2023, for a series of industry meetings, centered around the American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section’s 71st Annual Spring...more

4/11/2023 / Algorithms , Anti-Monopoly , Antitrust Division , Artificial Intelligence , Cartels , Collusion , Competition , Consent Decrees , Consumer Protection Laws , Department of Justice (DOJ) , Federal Trade Commission (FTC) , Hart-Scott-Rodino Act , Instant Messaging Apps , Mergers , Price-Fixing , Robinson-Patman Act , Sherman Act , Wage-Fixing

DOJ Signals Intent to Increase Antitrust Scrutiny of Information Sharing

On February 2, 2023, the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division, Doha Mekki, announced that the DOJ was withdrawing three policy statements outlining safe...more

2/7/2023 / Antitrust Provisions , Department of Justice (DOJ) , Federal Trade Commission (FTC) , Healthcare , Information Sharing , Policy Statement , Safe Harbors

FTC Takes Unprecedented Enforcement Actions Against Non-Compete Restrictions

On January 4, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced settlements with three companies for their use of employee non-compete restrictions in alleged violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act. Specifically, the FTC...more

1/17/2023 / Biden Administration , Employment Contract , Federal Trade Commission (FTC) , FTC Act , Non-Compete Agreements , Proposed Rules , Restrictive Covenants , Unfair Competition

FTC Proposes Sweeping Ban of Employee Non-Competes

On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a proposed rule broadly seeking to ban non-compete agreements with nearly all U.S. workers, with only limited exceptions. The proposed rule would: •make it...more

1/6/2023 / Antitrust Provisions , Department of Justice (DOJ) , Federal Register , Federal Trade Commission (FTC) , Non-Compete Agreements , Proposed Rules , Restrictive Covenants , Unfair Competition

Quarterly Cartel Catch-Up: Year-End Edition 2022

In 2022, antitrust authorities around the world were pursuing more investigations, bringing new types of cases, and making policy changes to spark even more enforcement actions. In the United States, the Department of...more

12/21/2022 / Antitrust Division , Antitrust Violations , Bid Rigging , Canada , Corporate Counsel , Dawn Raids , Department of Justice (DOJ) , Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) , EU , European Commission , Federal Trade Commission (FTC) , Interlocking Directorate , Monopolization , No-Poaching , OECD , Procurement Collusion Strike Force , Sherman Act , Wage-Fixing

Quarterly Cartel Catch-Up: Recent Developments in Criminal Antitrust for Busy Corporate Counsel - Q1 2022

Since the last edition of the QCC, there has been a series of dramatic developments in the criminal antitrust enforcement space in the U.S. from the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (Division)....more

Race to Self-Report: U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division Updates Leniency Program and Revises FAQs, Including...

On April 4, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (the “Division”) announced noteworthy updates to its Corporate Leniency Program as well as its frequently asked questions (“FAQs”) that explain the Program,...more

4/13/2022 / ACPERA , Antitrust Division , Antitrust Violations , Compliance , Corporate Counsel , Department of Justice (DOJ) , Remediation , Restitution , Self-Reporting , Whistleblowers

Lisa Phelan

Morrison & Foerster LLP

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