FTC Chair Wants Merger Cases Filed Only In Fed. Court

By Matthew Perlman

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson said Friday that the agency should bring its merger challenges directly in federal court, rather than the agency's in-house administrative process, as it typically has done.

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DOJ Says Ohio Health System's Contracts Violate Antitrust

By Matthew Perlman

The U.S. Department of Justice and Ohio's attorney general's office sued OhioHealth Corp. Friday in federal court, accusing the healthcare system of using contractual restrictions to block insurers from offering plans that include lower-cost rivals.

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Meta Judge's Antitrust Dismissal 'Usurped' Jury, 9th Circ. Told

By Dorothy Atkins

Facebook users urged the Ninth Circuit to revive their proposed class action accusing Meta Platforms Inc. of monopolizing personal social networking markets by misrepresenting its privacy and data practices, arguing that a trial judge misapplied antitrust law and "improperly usurped the jury's role" in deciding factual disputes.

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Trial Date For Pavia's NCAA Eligibility Suit Set For Feb. 2027

By David Steele

The trial for Vanderbilt University football player Diego Pavia's suit challenging the NCAA's athlete eligibility rules has been scheduled for next February, according to an order on Friday by the Tennessee federal judge overseeing the case.

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Judge Says Texas Can't Enforce Optometry Anti-Steering Law

By Mark Payne

A Texas federal judge on Friday blocked the state from enforcing an anti-steering law that banned managed care plans from telling insureds about optometrists who offer cheaper options, saying that the law violated protected commercial speech. 

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Class Attys Allege Lead Counsel Is Hoarding $75M Sutter Fees

By Dorothy Atkins

Schneider Wallace Cottrell Kim LLP has urged a California federal magistrate judge to enforce the $75.4 million fee award in Sutter Health's $228.5 million deal resolving a decade-long antitrust fight, arguing lead counsel Constantine Cannon LLP "unilaterally" and "arbitrarily" cut SWCK's fees by nearly $800,000 while boosting its own.

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Analysis

Middle-Market Private Data Sector Poised For M&A Growth

By Al Barbarino

As demand for insight into the opaque corners of the financial world accelerates, buyers are increasingly zeroing in on middle-market private market data providers, where attorneys say consolidation is poised to intensify.

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Paramount, Netflix Differ On Significance Of HSR Milestone

By Al Barbarino

Paramount Skydance Corp. said Friday it has cleared the U.S. antitrust waiting period for its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., prompting competing suitor Netflix to challenge Paramount's characterization of the milestone.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

The last week in London saw the founders of Getir sue investment fund Mubadala for more than $700 million tied to alleged breaches during the company's restructuring, the Welsh Rugby Union face a claim by Swansea Council over a proposed takeover of Cardiff Rugby, and Euro Car Parks target the Competition and Markets Authority after it was fined by the watchdog. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Chemours, Koura Beat Rivals' Refrigerant Antitrust Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

A North Carolina federal judge has tossed an antitrust lawsuit against DuPont spinoff the Chemours Co. FC LLC and a fellow refrigerant distributor, saying two of their rivals failed to plausibly allege an antitrust injury or conspiracy, among other requirements needed to keep the suit alive.

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Caterpillar Unit Drops Antitrust Suit Against Wabtec

By Nadia Dreid

Caterpillar subsidiary Progress Rail quietly dropped its antitrust lawsuit Friday in Delaware federal court against rail giant Wabtec over its 2019 merger with General Electric's transportation unit after more than two years of legal back and forth.

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Milwaukee Accuses Fire Truck Giants Of Rigging The Market

By Elaine Briseño

The city of Milwaukee has alleged in a proposed class action that the country's largest fire truck makers and their trade group conspired to slow production so they could force cities and their departments to pay inflated prices.

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Schools Push For Pretrial 7th Circ. Appeal In Aid-Fixing Suit

By Celeste Bott

Cornell, Georgetown, Notre Dame, MIT and UPenn say that students fighting their bid to go straight to the Seventh Circuit on a ruling that teed up a trial over allegations that the schools fixed financial aid offerings "mischaracterize the questions presented and downplay Supreme Court precedent," insisting a prompt appeal would hasten the resolution of the case.

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Zillow Fights Class Claims It Pushed Buyers Into Pricey Loans

By Ben Adlin

Real estate marketplace Zillow urged a Seattle federal judge Friday to throw out homebuyers' accusations it violated a Washington consumer protection law and federal anti-racketeering and real estate statutes, rejecting claims that it directed buyers to its own more costly mortgage services and steered website visitors toward Zillow-affiliated sales agents.

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PVC Pipe Buyers Want To Get Price-Fixing Discovery Moving

By Elizabeth Daley

Parties involved in price-fixing litigation over polyvinyl chloride pipe costs have offered differing solutions to an Illinois federal court, with defendants in the consolidated action pushing for dismissal as plaintiffs urged the court to start permitted discovery.

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Trump Imposes Maximum Tariff After Supreme Court Rebuke

By Dylan Moroses

President Donald Trump imposed a temporary global tariff with several exemptions hours after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down tariffs imposed under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, then announced that he would increase the duty to the 15% maximum.

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Fed. Circ. OKs Micron's PTAB Loss In Netlist Patent Challenge

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit on Friday upheld Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions that Micron Technology Inc. failed to show that claims of a Netlist Inc. computer memory patent are invalid, part of a wide-ranging dispute that includes a nine-figure verdict against Micron on other patents.

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Ill. Dispensary Says Rivals, Ex-Partners Illegally Raided Store

By Mike Curley

An Illinois dispensary is suing its former business partners, rival shops and a law firm in a $10 million racketeering suit, alleging they conspired to steal the dispensary's assets and sabotage their attempts to reopen in a bid to drive them out of business.

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Ex-Joe Gibbs Racing Director Hit With $8M Trade Secrets Suit

By Hayley Fowler

One of NASCAR's biggest race teams is suing its former competition director for $8 million after he allegedly plundered trade secrets on his way out the door, saying he took everything from performance analytics to employee pay records while readying to join a competitor.

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Ex-Exec Must Arbitrate Claims In CoStar DQ-Embroiled Spat

By Grace Dixon

A California federal judge sent most of a former Matterport executive's harassment and retaliation suit to arbitration, amid a suit that has prompted CoStar's efforts to disqualify Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP counsel in separate litigation.

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FCC Warned Of Risks From Moving Too Fast On IP Networks

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission risks harm to the public if it moves too quickly to retire legacy phone networks in the transition to all-internet-based connectivity, consumer advocates warn.

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Calif.'s Civility Push Shows Why Professionalism Is Vital

The California Bar’s campaign against discourteous behavior by attorneys, including a newly required annual civility oath, reflects a growing concern among states that professionalism in law needs shoring up — and recognizes that maintaining composure even when stressed is key to both succeeding professionally and maintaining faith in the legal system, says Lucy Wang at Hinshaw.

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Feds Fight Ex-Judge's Bid For New Trial In ICE Arrest Case

By Parker Quinlan

The federal government asked a federal judge to deny acquittal and new trial motions made by a Wisconsin state judge convicted of directing a defendant in her courtroom to use a restricted staircase to avoid removal by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

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2nd Circuit Chief Judge To Take Senior Status

By Courtney Bublé

Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston of the Second Circuit will take senior status over the summer, giving President Donald Trump another appellate seat to fill.

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Brief

Snow Delays Goldstein Deliberations Until Tuesday

By Jared Foretek

The jury in SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein's tax evasion trial won't be back to deliberate until Tuesday, after snow prompted courts in the District of Maryland to close Monday.

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Analysis

How Greenberg Thinks Tariff Ruling Could Affect Dealmaking

By Al Barbarino

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling invalidating IEEPA-based tariffs gave dealmakers clarity on how to pursue potential refund rights in mergers and acquisitions, but President Donald Trump's swift announcement of new global tariffs has immediately reintroduced dealmaking uncertainty.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jeff Montgomery

Legal fee feuds, noncompete pact breach fights and post-closing "earnout" battles piled up in Delaware's equity and commercial law venues last week, with top jurists briefing lawmakers on efforts to better manage crowded dockets and expanded benches.

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