Antitrust Today

The UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal: Change at the Top, and a New Practice Direction on Witness Statements

The United Kingdom Competition Appeal Tribunal (the “CAT”) is charting a new direction in both leadership and witnesses. New President The CAT has announced that Sir Marcus Smith has replaced Mr Justice Roth as its President. As a barrister, Sir Marcus specialised in regulatory law. In 2009, he was appointed as a Chairman of the CAT, which hears appeals of various regulators’ decisions – specifically...

Do You Have an Antitrust Remedy When Your Major Suppliers, Buyers or Competitors Merge?

A Primer on Private Merger Challenges As more and more companies fear that mergers in their industries will leave them with fewer options, they should consider whether they have an antitrust option available. Mergers are on the rise. The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Federal Trade Commission have reported a huge increase in mergers—with the antitrust agencies receiving more than 4,000...

C|C’s Wyatt Fore Moderates Brown Bag on Antitrust Economics of Two-Sided Platforms

On November 12, 2021, Constantine Cannon attorney Wyatt Fore moderated an “ABA Economics Committee Fundamentals” brown bag webinar, presented by Dr. Juliette Caminade, on two-sided platforms.  With heightened regulatory attention given to two-sided platforms, particularly global digital firms, the economics of those companies remain at the forefront of antitrust.  An audio recording of the webinar will be...

C|C Attorneys Hold Webinar on Antitrust Issues for the Retail Industry

On November 10, 2021, Constantine Cannon attorneys, Jeff Shinder and Harrison McAvoy, presented a webinar on antitrust issues salient to the retail industry, both from a compliance perspective and to help retail organizations on guard against anticompetitive conduct. The webinar can be accessed through CLE provider, Lorman Education Services.

What to Expect During Antitrust Merger Reviews and Investigations Under the Biden Administration (Part 1)

Antitrust enforcers are revising the gamebook for firms that hope to get their mergers through the federal merger review process. As this blog has previously reported on increased antitrust enforcement under the Biden Administration, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) are continuing with their renewed efforts to promote competition and block potentially...

Constantine Cannon Named to the 2022 “National Best Law Firm” List

Recognition from Best Lawyers includes National Tier 1 ranking for Antitrust Law and Litigation-Antitrust

Constantine Cannon LLP is pleased to announce that it has been named to the 2022 national “Best Law Firms” list by U.S. News - Best Lawyers. The firm has once again been recognized with a National Tier 1 rating for both its Antitrust Law and Litigation-Antitrust practices, in addition to other national and...

The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following. Facebook Faces New Antitrust Lawsuit.  Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, downloaded a popular new app, Phhhoto, on Aug. 8, 2014, and took a selfie. Other Facebook executives and product managers soon followed suit. The social network then made overtures to integrate Phhhoto. But the interest...

Will New York Become An AmEx Free Zone?

Many observers, this blog included, have commented on the potentially groundbreaking nature of New York’s proposed 21^st Century Antitrust Act. Supporters of the bill emphasize the systematic dismantling of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, which is best evidenced by Justice Scalia’s “monopoly is good” diatribe in Verizon Communications, Inc. v. Trinko, 540 U.S. 398, 407.  Given the Supreme Court’s solicitude to...

DOJ Seeks to Close the Book on Penguin Random House’s Acquisition of Simon & Schuster

On November 2, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) once again demonstrated its renewed resolve to block anticompetitive concentrations by filing a civil antitrust lawsuit seeking to block Penguin Random House LLC’s proposed acquisition of its close competitor, Simon & Shuster. DOJ alleges that the merger would give Penguin Random House “outsized influence over who and what is published, and how much...

Republican FTC Commissioners Issue Dissenting Statement on Use of Prior Approval Provisions in Merger Orders

As this blog has discussed, the FTC announced last week it is restoring a policy of “routinely requiring merging parties subject to a Commission order to obtain prior approval from the FTC before closing any future transaction affecting each relevant market for which a violation was alleged.”  According to the FTC, its Prior Approval Policy will help prevent facially anticompetitive deals, preserve FTC resources,...