Antitrust Lawyer Blog

On May 3,2004, the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Antitrust Division, at the request of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), filed two civil suits against alleged violators of pre-merger notification filing requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) Act of 1976. The HSR Act imposes notification and waiting period requirements on individuals and companies over a certain size…

On May 19, 2009, Ronald Douglas Matheny II, the former product merchant in Home Depot’s flooring department, pled guilty to his role in a conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and a conspiracy to commit money laundering connected to a scheme to defraud his former employer, Home Depot. Mr. Matheny was employed with Home…

On May 14, 2009, Melissa Deaton Tesvich, ex-wife of former Home Depot employee, Anthony Tesvich, who pled guilty for one count of wire fraud, herself pled guilty to one count of filing a false tax return. According to the Department of Justice, Ms. Tesvich filed a joint federal tax return for 2005 where she underreported…

On May 11, 2009, Christine A. Varney, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department’s Antitrust Division, delivered her first speech at an event sponsored by the Center for American Progress. The speech, entitled “Vigorous Antitrust Enforcement in this Challenging Era,” confirms that the new administration intends be much more active role than the Bush…

On May 5, it was reported by various news sources that the Federal Trade Commission opened an investigation into whether an overlap of directors on the boards of Apple Inc. and Google Inc. violates the antitrust laws, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt sits on the board of Apple. If directors sit on the boards of two…

On May 4, 2009, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) reached a settlement with Consolidated Multiple Listing Service, Inc. (“CMLS”) that requires CMLS to change its rules to allow for increased competition between low-priced, innovative real estate brokers compete with traditional real estate brokers in the Columbia, South Carolina market. A multiple listing service (“MLS”), like…

On May 1, 2009, Thomas J. DeGirolamo, owner and president of a designing and manufacturing firm, pled guilty for his role in a conspiracy to allocate a U.S. Navy contract for navy straps. Navy straps are a type of equipment used by the U.S. Navy to tiedown munitions and other equipment for transport on ships…

On April 27, 2009, Bock Kwon, a high level executive at LG Display Co. Ltd. (“LG”) pled guilty, agreed to serve one year in prison in the United States and pay a criminal fine of $30,000 for his role in a conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition in the Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD)…

On April 22, 2009, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced its leadership team. The new team includes the Chief of Staff, four Deputy Assistant Attorneys General, a Special Counsel for Competition Policy. Two Deputy Assistant Attorney Generals will oversee civil matters, one Deputy Assistant Attorney General will oversee economic analysis and one Deputy Assistant…

On April 21, 2009, Douglas E. Ritter, president of a refuse disposal container repair company, and Stephen Fenzl, vice-president of the same company, were charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud. According the indictment, Mr. Ritter and Mr. Fenzl conspired to defraud…