Insights Search

The California State Assembly recently unveiled legislation (“AB 325”) designed to strengthen California antitrust enforcement in two ways.

One hundred days ago, sweeping revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act Premerger Notification Form took effect.

For decades, California enforcers and politicians have argued for state-level antitrust enforcement activity at a level commensurate with California’s $4.1 trillion economy, the largest state economy in the United States. Only recently, however, have those rumblings coalesced into concrete proposals with significant political momentum. Most notably, in 2022 the California Legislature authorized the California Law Revision Commission (CLRC)—a state agency tasked with examining California law and recommending reforms—to study potential revisions to the state’s antitrust laws. This initiative led to the formation of working groups around eight major topics, including single-firm conduct, mergers and acquisitions, and technology platforms.

On April 17, 2025, a federal district court denied a motion to dismiss the first government enforcement action brought in decades under the Robinson-Patman Act (“RPA”), a statute that prohibits price discrimination and other anticompetitive distribution practices.

On April 14, 2025, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) obtained a high-profile “wage-fixing” conviction under the Sherman Act against a former executive of multiple home health care agencies (“HHAs”).

Hill Wellford and Mike Scarborough offered insights on antitrust developments affecting the technology industry.

On February 26, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced the formation of a Joint Labor Task Force aimed at addressing deceptive, unfair, and anticompetitive practices impacting labor markets.

California continues to ramp up recent efforts to ferret out anticompetitive conduct in the Golden State through oversight and enforcement.

On February 10, Vinson & Elkins LLP’s Hill Wellford, co-chair of the firm’s antitrust group, and Kara Kuritz, an antitrust transactional partner, presented a PLI briefing “Antitrust in Transactions.”

Darren Tucker and Jason Powers discussed recent antitrust developments in the energy sector and what lies ahead for companies in 2025.

The Trump Administration’s antitrust enforcement priorities are beginning to take shape. On January 20, 2025, President Trump designated former Federal Trade Commission (FTC) commissioner Andrew Ferguson as the agency’s next Chair and formally nominated Mark Meador, an FTC veteran, to be a Commissioner. In addition, Trump nominated Gail Slater to be the next head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.

Vinson & Elkins’ 2024 Chemicals & Energy Antitrust Report details the antitrust approach expected under the upcoming Trump administration, with a focus on boosting oil and gas production.