Articles Posted in Civil Non-Merger Highlights

On November 21, 2011, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) settled allegations of violations of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 45 (“FTC Act”) against Pool Corporation (“PoolCorp”). PoolCorp and the FTC reached a proposed consent agreement resolving charges that PoolCorp used exclusionary acts and practices to maintain its monopoly power in…

On September 23, 2011, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a case brought by a group of corporations that filed an antitrust suit against the major players in the potash industry, ruling that plaintiffs failed to allege specific facts sufficient to plead a plausible “direct, substantial, and reasonably foreseeable” connection between the alleged foreign…

The Affordable Care Act of 2010 encourages health care providers to form integrated organizations to jointly offer services in order to reduce costs and improve the quality of health care in the United States. Section 3022 of the Act provides for the formation of Accountable Care Organizations (“ACOs”) to serve fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries through Medicare's…

On December 6, 2010, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a class action appeal in the Wal-Mart Stores employment discrimination case, one claiming that the company discriminated against a huge number of current and former Wal-Mart women employees in both pay and promotion. This is the biggest employment discrimination case in U.S. history and seeks…

The European Union recently published new revised rules regarding the assessment of horizontal cooperation agreements (i.e. agreements concluded between competitors). These new modifications primarily concern issues of standardization, information exchange, and research and development (“R&D”). Now, businesses operating in the EU may better assess their compliance with EU antitrust law to avoid penalties and litigation.…

On October 18, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Michigan Attorney General challenged Blue Cross Blue Shield (“BCBS”) of Michigan in a civil antitrust action. The complaint alleges that “most-favored nation” (“MFN”) clauses in BCBS contracts with Michigan hospitals raises health-care costs for Michigan residents and employers and excludes other insurers from…

On October 4, 2010, the Antitrust Division announced that it along with the states of Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Texas filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York challenging rules that American Express, Master Card, and Visa have in place that prevent merchants from…

On April 29, 2010, a panel of three judges at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals gave hope to the opponents of pay-for-delay settlements, when the Court’s decision invited plaintiffs-appellants of Arkansas Carpenters Health and Welfare Fund v. Bayer AG to petition for an en banc rehearing of the case. On September 7, 2010, however,…