Insights Search
On August 20, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas entered a final judgment (“Order”) setting aside, on a nationwide basis, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) final rule (“Rule”) prohibiting non-competition agreements.
On August 5, 2024, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that it filed a civil complaint and proposed settlement with Legends Hospitality Parent Holdings LLC (“Legends”) for unlawful pre-merger coordination, commonly referred to as “gun jumping,” in violation of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (“HSR Act”).
For years, email has been the dominant form of business communication. The average office worker sends approximately 9,000 to 15,000 emails per year. Multiply 15,000 emails across multiple personnel and multiple years, and that leads to an enormous amount of email flowing into review for a lawsuit or investigation. And, as we all know, many of those emails are replies and forwards containing repetitive information that appear multiple times in our inboxes. Reviewing each individual email in those email chains or “threads” can be time-consuming and costly. Email threading can help solve this problem.
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) voted 3-2, on party lines, to finalize its rule prohibiting businesses from entering into or enforcing non-compete clauses in nearly all agreements with workers.
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has revised the thresholds that govern pre-merger notification requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (“HSR Act”), and Section 8 of the Clayton Act governing “interlocking directorates.”
For companies in the energy and chemical sectors, the potential for antitrust scrutiny is an ever-present concern. The next round of enforcement inquiries is never further away than the next jump in commodity prices or the next consolidation wave. Especially under an enforcement-minded administration, companies should stay focused on timely transaction planning and routine compliance efforts to manage their antitrust-related risks.
On December 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice (the “Agencies”) jointly released new Merger Guidelines (the “Guidelines”), setting forth the analytical framework the Agencies will use to review proposed mergers and acquisitions.
With its growing size and importance, the renewable energy industry needs to be aware of antitrust rules. Members of V&E’s nationally recognized antitrust practice have produced a comprehensive survey article that addresses a variety of competition issues faced by renewable energy companies.