On January 16, 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (together, the Agencies) released the Antitrust Guidelines for Business Activities Affecting Workers (Guidelines),...more
1/30/2025
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Popular ,
Wage and Hour
Key Points -
- We expect the second Trump administration to take a relatively aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement, as regulators did during President-elect Trump’s first term, because there is bipartisan support...more
On January 25, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched an inquiry scrutinizing the investments and partnerships of Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon relating to growing artificial intelligence startups Open AI and...more
On December 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) released the final 2023 Merger Guidelines (the Guidelines). While the final version of the Guidelines reflects...more
12/22/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Draft Guidance ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Vertical Mergers
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a draft of proposed new merger guidelines today, 18 months after FTC Chair Lina Khan and Assistant Attorney General...more
Key Points - U.S. antitrust regulators at the DOJ and FTC embarked on a joint review of merger enforcement by soliciting public input on modernizing federal merger guidelines. While public comments ran the gamut from...more
7/13/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Public Comment ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Vertical Mergers
As the Biden Administration enters its second year, the White House and antitrust enforcers at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) continue to focus on the intersection between antitrust and...more
More than four years after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly released the Antitrust Guidance for Human Resource Professionals in 2016 (Antitrust Guidance), the DOJ has...more
2/22/2021
/ Antitrust Conspiracies ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Indictments ,
No-Poaching ,
Sherman Act ,
Wage-Fixing
On August 31, 2020, the Delaware Chancery Court issued an opinion in litigation between Anthem and Cigna related to the contract in their terminated merger. In its sprawling 306-page opinion, the court detailed a “corporate...more
9/19/2020
/ Anthem Insurance ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Breach of Contract ,
CIGNA ,
Condition Precedent ,
Contract Termination ,
Contract Terms ,
Credibility ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Merger Agreements ,
Mergers ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Popular ,
Reasonable Efforts Clauses ,
Termination Rights
Following their January publication of Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines (draft guidelines) for public comment, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) (collectively, the agencies) issued final...more
Federal district courts around the country continue to grapple with how to analyze “no-poach” agreements — whereby two or more companies agree not to hire or recruit each other’s workers — under the antitrust laws. Beginning...more
5/2/2020
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Defense Contracts ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discovery ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Contractors ,
Franchisee ,
Franchisors ,
Hub-and-Spoke Conspiracy ,
No-Poaching ,
Per Se Rule ,
Popular ,
Restraint of Trade ,
Rule-of-Reason Analysis ,
Sherman Act ,
Standard of Review
As anticipated, on January 10, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, the Agencies) released Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines (Draft Guidelines), marking the first update...more
1/22/2020
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Draft Guidance ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Public Comment ,
Sensitive Business Information ,
Supply Chain ,
Transparency ,
Vertical Mergers
Antitrust treatment of no-poach agreements continues to evolve as private cases progress, state attorneys general ramp up enforcement efforts and federal regulators further contemplate the legality of no-poach agreements....more
Legal battles over the antitrust treatment of no-poach agreements continue to escalate with new district court decisions and new pronouncements from two “titans” of antitrust policy, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the...more
6/10/2019
/ AAI ,
American Antitrust Institute ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dominos ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Franchisee ,
Franchisors ,
Hub-and-Spoke Conspiracy ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
No-Poaching ,
Per Se Rule ,
Quick Look Analysis ,
Rule-of-Reason Analysis ,
Sherman Act ,
Vertical Restraints
In early February 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its intent to file statements of interest in multiple ongoing private lawsuits to clarify how “no-poach” agreements should be evaluated under the federal...more
3/19/2019
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Franchises ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Venture ,
No-Poaching ,
Railways ,
Regulatory Oversight
Evolving antitrust treatment of so-called “no-poach” agreements continues to offer important guidance for company counsel and human resources professionals. Over the past two years, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has...more
2/12/2019
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Horizontal Restraint ,
Hub-and-Spoke Conspiracy ,
No-Poaching ,
Pleading Standards ,
Rule-of-Reason Analysis ,
Sherman Act ,
Universities
In recent weeks, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has continued to expand his efforts to eradicate the use of no-poach agreements by employers. The targets of his investigation are companies that have included...more
10/18/2018
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Former Employee ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Franchisee ,
Franchisors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
No-Poaching ,
Sherman Act ,
State Attorneys General ,
State Labor Laws
Fifteen months after the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its intention to criminally pursue no-poaching agreements — in which competitors agree not to recruit or hire each other’s employees —...more
4/25/2018
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Criminal Antitrust Litigation ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
No-Hire/No-Solicitation Agreements ,
No-Poaching ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Rule-of-Reason Analysis ,
Sherman Act ,
Technology Sector
On January 13, 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, the Agencies) issued revised Antitrust Guidelines for the Licensing of Intellectual Property...more
1/20/2017
/ Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Comity ,
Competition Authorities ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTAIA ,
International Harmonization ,
IP License ,
New Guidance
On October 20, 2016, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly issued new guidance designed to help human resources professionals and their companies understand...more
11/4/2016
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Civil Liability ,
Criminal Liability ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
New Guidance ,
No-Poaching ,
Technology Sector ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage-Fixing
On January 14, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court held in an unanimous decision that parens patriae lawsuits filed by state attorneys general alleging only violations of state law may not be removed to federal court under the Class...more