Competition

  • December 19, 2025

    PHH's $29.5M Kickback Deal Gets Final OK After 17 Years

    After 17 years of litigation, a certified class of homeowners got the final stamp of approval in California federal court for a $29.5 million settlement with PHH Mortgage and its captive reinsurer, both of which homeowners alleged received unlawful kickbacks from premiums paid for mortgage insurance.

  • December 19, 2025

    Iowa Appeals Schwab Antitrust Deal After Objections

    Iowa's attorney general has appealed to the Fifth Circuit a Texas federal judge's final approval of a settlement ending an antitrust class action suit over The Charles Schwab Corp.'s merger with TD Ameritrade, following the Hawkeye State's previous objection claiming the deal offered class members insufficient relief.

  • December 19, 2025

    App Makers Tell 9th Circ. It Got Google Maps Facts Wrong

    App makers asked the Ninth Circuit to rethink their proposed antitrust class action accusing Google of locking out rival maps products, arguing a panel refused to revive the case only because it did "not address and ignored" their allegations.

  • December 19, 2025

    X Can Still Sue Media Matters In Ireland, 9th Circ. Rules

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday vacated a California federal judge's injunction that blocked X Corp.'s ongoing lawsuit against left-leaning watchdog Media Matters in Ireland over an allegedly defamatory article, saying Media Matters waited too long before seeking to bring the case to the Golden State and thus prejudiced X.

  • December 19, 2025

    FTC Says Building Service Contractor Will End No-Hire Pacts

    The Federal Trade Commission is continuing to show interest in labor market issues, reaching a deal on Friday alongside New Jersey state enforcers that bars Adamas Amenity Services LLC from enforcing no-hire agreements with building owners.

  • December 19, 2025

    AstraZeneca Unit Ducks Patent Fraud, Not Sham Suit Claims

    A Massachusetts federal judge spared AstraZeneca unit Alexion on Friday from half of a nonprofit insurer's proposed class action, finding the plaintiff too far removed from anticompetitive patent fraud that allegedly propped up blood disorder treatment Soliris, while preserving accusations that Alexion brought sham infringement allegations against would-be rivals.

  • December 19, 2025

    Rail Giants Pitch $85B Deal To Transportation Regulators

    Union Pacific Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. submitted the required application for their planned $85 billion merger on Friday, telling regulators the rail networks have few overlaps and that a combined system will allow freight to move faster and more efficiently across the country.

  • December 19, 2025

    Trials & Mixed Outcomes Defined Antitrust Enforcers' 2025

    U.S. antitrust enforcers took three high-profile cases against major technology platforms to trial this year, and that was just part of a government campaign that alleged a range of transgressions — including monopolistic conduct, algorithmic price-fixing and anticompetitive agreements — and netted one high-profile victory and several major setbacks.

  • December 19, 2025

    Dems Push For Scrutiny Of Compass' $1.6B Anywhere Buy

    Democratic senators urged the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to scrutinize Compass Inc.'s $1.6 billion buy of rival broker Anywhere Real Estate Inc., saying further consolidation could drive commissions higher and squeeze out remaining competitors.

  • December 19, 2025

    9th Circ. Takes Up IPhone Buyers' Class Decertification

    The Ninth Circuit has summarily agreed to let consumers appeal what they had described as the "death knell" district court ruling that decertified their class of iPhone users that was expected to reach 200 million members in an antitrust case over Apple's App Store policies.

  • December 19, 2025

    EU Court Questions Fairness Of Music Fees For Empty Rooms

    Europe's top court ruled Thursday that a Czech court would have to determine whether a copyright management organization was applying unfair rates to hotel providers by collecting royalties when music played in empty rooms. 

  • December 19, 2025

    UK Probes Kingsmill Bread Owner's Buy Of Rival Hovis

    Britain's antitrust authority said Friday that it has decided to launch a formal probe into the acquisition of British bread company Hovis Group Ltd. by Associated British Foods PLC, which already owns rival bread brand Kingsmill.

  • December 19, 2025

    UK Open To Behavioral Remedies During Merger Reviews

    Britain's competition watchdog said on Friday that it will be willing to accept remedies during merger reviews that it had previously deemed too onerous to monitor, but only under certain circumstances, as the authority looks to back the government's agenda to help the U.K. economy grow.

  • December 18, 2025

    Instacart Will Pay $60M Over FTC's Deceptive Delivery Claims

    Instacart has agreed to pay $60 million to resolve Federal Trade Commission claims it deceptively advertised "free delivery" on customers' first orders while charging a service fee and for not clearly disclosing the terms of its subscription membership.

  • December 18, 2025

    Judge Wants Live Nation Antitrust Trial Limited To 5 Weeks

    A New York federal judge nudged the Justice Department and Live Nation during a hearing Thursday to limit next year's antitrust jury trial against the live entertainment giant to no more than five weeks, not the eight the government wants, although he left open the possibility for more time.

  • December 18, 2025

    Top Trade Secrets Decisions Of 2025

    The Ninth Circuit clarified the rules of engagement in trade secrets disputes with guidance on when confidential information must be precisely detailed during litigation, and jurors delivered a $200 million verdict against Walmart over product freshness technology. Here are Law360's picks for the biggest trade secrets decisions of 2025.

  • December 18, 2025

    EU Approves Bakery Biz Deal With Plant Sales

    European enforcers approved Belgian food group Vandemoortele's proposed acquisition of Délifrance SA from French grain cooperative Vivescia, conditioned on the sale of two production facilities for frozen dough products.

  • December 18, 2025

    Unions Come Out Against Rail Giants' $85B Merger

    Two Teamsters unions representing a majority of organized workers at Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific came out in opposition this week to the companies' proposed $85 billion merger, arguing the deal would strangle railroads' competitive angle and drive down safety standards.

  • December 18, 2025

    Dems Urge Scrutiny Of AT&T, SpaceX Spectrum Deals

    Congressional Democrats are pushing Trump administration officials to further scrutinize AT&T and SpaceX's plans to obtain wireless spectrum licenses from the telecommunications company EchoStar.

  • December 18, 2025

    Settlement Admin, Bank Conspiracy Suits Consolidated In DC

    A group of putative class actions alleging a wide-ranging kickback scheme between three of the largest settlement administration companies in the country and banks that was designed to juice administration fees while diminishing class action payouts has been consolidated in D.C. federal court.

  • December 18, 2025

    Vegas Sun Wants Justices To Revive Protective Pact

    The Las Vegas Sun wants the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a Ninth Circuit decision that nixed an agreement protecting it from the Las Vegas Review-Journal's alleged plan to drive it out of business, arguing that the old pact with the more conservative paper was valid even without express government approval.

  • December 18, 2025

    NAR Brokers Are Antitrust Conspirators, 10th Circ. Told

    Homie Tech Inc. told the Tenth Circuit that the National Association of Realtors can't paint its broker members as third parties in an effort to duck the residential brokerage startup's antitrust claims over a boycott flowing from NAR rules those members followed.

  • December 18, 2025

    LinkedIn Data Access Settlement Rejected In Antitrust Case

    A California federal court refused to approve a settlement requiring LinkedIn to stop conditioning access to its data interface on rivals agreeing not to use the data for a competing professional social network, a deal that included no damages but up to $4 million in attorney fees.

  • December 18, 2025

    NC Construction Exec Admits To $6M Bid-Rigging Scheme

    A North Carolina construction company executive pled guilty to a conspiracy to rig bids for maintenance and repair on U.S. military installations, according to a Wednesday press release from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Public Affairs.

  • December 18, 2025

    Justices Dismiss 'Weak' £2.7B FX Claim Against Major Banks

    The U.K. Supreme Court held Thursday that the merits of a £2.7 billion ($3.6 billion) opt-out collective action against major banks over alleged foreign exchange-rigging are "weak" and that the case should not have been allowed to continue. 

Expert Analysis

  • SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • What's At Stake In Justices' Merits Hearing Of FTC Firing

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    In December, the U.S. Supreme Court will review President Donald Trump's firing of Democratic Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, a decision that will implicate a 90-year-old precedent and, depending on its breadth, could have profound implications for presidential authority over independent agencies, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Compliance Steps To Take As FCRA Enforcement Widens

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    As the Fair Credit Reporting Act receives renewed focus from both federal and state enforcers, regulatory and litigation risk is most acute in several core areas, which companies can address by implementing purpose processes and quick remediation of consumer complaints, among other steps, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • 6 Shifts In Trump Tax Law May Lend A Hand To M&A Strategy

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    Changes in the Trump administration's recent One Big Beautiful Bill Act stand to create a more favorable environment for mergers and acquisitions, including full bonus depreciation and an expanded code section, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Navigating The SEC's Evolving Foreign Private Issuer Regime

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    As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reevaluates foreign private issuer eligibility, FPIs face not only incremental compliance costs but also a potential reshaping of listing strategies, capital access, enforcement exposure and global regulatory coordination, potential unintended effects that deserve further exploration, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • How Calif. Law Cracks Down On Algorithmic Price-Fixing

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    Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two laws this month significantly expanding state antitrust enforcement and civil and criminal penalties for the use or distribution of shared pricing algorithms, as the U.S. Department of Justice has recently wielded the Sherman Act to challenge algorithmic pricing, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Hermes Bags Antitrust Win That Clarifies Luxury Tying Claims

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    A California federal court recently found that absent actual harm to competition in the market for ancillary products, Hermes may make access to the Birkin bag contingent on other purchases, establishing that selective sales tactics and scarcity do not automatically violate U.S. antitrust law, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Opinion

    High Court, Not A Single Justice, Should Decide On Recusal

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    As public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court continues to decline, the court should adopt a collegial framework in which all justices decide questions of recusal together — a reform that respects both judicial independence and due process for litigants, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • FTC's Consumer Finance Pivot Brings Industry Pros And Cons

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    An active Federal Trade Commission against the backdrop of a leashed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be welcomed by most in the consumer finance industry, but the incremental expansion of the FTC's authority via enforcement actions remains a risk, say attorneys at Hudson Cook.

  • Amazon Ruling Marks New Era Of Personal Liability For Execs

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    A Washington federal court's recent decision in FTC v. Amazon extended personal liability to senior executives for design-driven violations of broad consumer protection statutes, signaling a fundamental shift in how consumer protection laws may be enforced against large public companies, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • Series

    Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Client Service

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    Law school teaches you how to interpret the law, but it doesn't teach you some of the key ways to keeping clients satisfied, lessons that I've learned in the most unexpected of places: a book on how to be a butler, says Gregory Ramos at Armstrong Teasdale.

  • How The FTC Is Stepping Up Subscription Enforcement

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    Despite the demise of the Federal Trade Commission's click-to-cancel rule in July, the commission has not only maintained its regulatory momentum, but also set new compliance benchmarks through recent high-profile settlements with Match.com, Chegg and Amazon, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • How Trump Admin. Is Shifting Biden's Antitrust Merger Enforcement

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    Antitrust enforcement trends under the Trump administration have included a moderation in the agencies' approach to merger enforcement as compared to enforcers compared to the prior administration, but dealmakers should still expect aggressive enforcement when the agencies believe consumers will be harmed and they expect to win in court, say attorneys at Rule Garza.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: 3 Tips On Finding The Right Job

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    After 23 years as a state and federal prosecutor, when I contemplated moving to a law firm, practicing solo or going in-house, I found there's a critical first step — deep self-reflection on what you truly want to do and where your strengths lie, says Rachael Jones at McKool Smith.

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