FTC's Meador Questions 'Reliance' On Hovenkamp Treatise

By Bryan Koenig

Federal Trade Commission member Mark Meador vouched Thursday for an "aggregation" theory of antitrust violations that can combine conduct that may not be anticompetitive individually, in a Houston speech that also took direct aim at a foundational academic treatise of modern competition law.

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Syngenta's Pesticide Rebates To Face FTC Antitrust Trial

By Lauren Berg

Syngenta cannot escape the Federal Trade Commission's allegations it uses a loyalty rebate program to block competition from rival generic pesticides, a North Carolina federal judge ruled Thursday, saying it will be up to a jury to iron out whether the rebates are unlawful exclusive dealing.

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Paramount Gets Viewers' Deal Challenge Tossed Again

By Matthew Perlman

A California federal court has tossed a case from consumers challenging Paramount's merger with Skydance and completed purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, finding for a second time that the case fails to properly allege any harm from the deals.

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Live Nation Details Woodward, Trump Role In DOJ Deal

By Bryan Koenig

Live Nation Entertainment Inc. has offered new details on the involvement of the White House and senior Justice Department officials in its controversial midtrial settlement Democrats have cast as corrupt, confirming that Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr.'s office was also involved.

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FTC Wants More Info On Curium's $8B Deal For Lantheus

By Matthew Perlman

The Federal Trade Commission has requested additional information about Curium's planned $8 billion acquisition of fellow radiopharmaceutical company Lantheus Holdings Inc., extending a waiting period that prevents the transaction from closing.

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Full 9th Circ. Won't Review Surgical Robot Antitrust Fight

By Gina Kim

The full Ninth Circuit declined to reconsider an appellate panel's recent decision reviving a surgical repair company's antitrust suit alleging Intuitive Surgical blocked third parties from supplying parts for its popular da Vinci surgery robot, according to an order issued Thursday.

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Judge Says BCBS' Evidence Ask In Ford Case Too Late

By Susan Smiley

A Michigan federal judge on Thursday denied Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan's motion to compel Ford Motor Company to produce emails from a senior director, ruling that the health insurer waited too long to make the request in the antitrust suit.

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Trump, World Liberty Sued Over 'Corrupt' $2B UAE Deal

By Aislinn Keely

A former employee of stablecoin issuer Circle sued President Donald Trump and the Trump-tied crypto firm World Liberty Financial Thursday over allegedly "corrupt" business deals with the United Arab Emirates that the software engineer says violated the Constitution and harmed his former employer.

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States Ask DC Circ. To Ban Google From Paying To Be Default

By Nadia Dreid

If the D.C. Circuit doesn't ban Google from paying to be the default search engine on people's cellphones after it was found to have illegally maintained a monopoly, state enforcers say the tech titan will remain "free to buy tomorrow's defaults with the fruits of yesterday's anticompetitive conduct."

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Mylan Settles Connecticut's EpiPen Price Claims For $8M

By Brian Steele

Mylan Pharmaceuticals has struck another deal to resolve claims that it illegally inflated prices for EpiPens, this time settling Connecticut state enforcers' allegations of antitrust and consumer protection law violations for $8 million.

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Lidl, Aldi Face CMA Restrictions To Prevent Land Deal Abuse

By William Janes

The competition watchdog extended rules restricting anticompetitive land agreements to Aldi and Lidl on Thursday, bringing the discount chains in line with other supermarkets to prevent them from using property deals to stop rival stores opening nearby.

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Southern Glazer's Deal Tests FTC's Robinson-Patman Push

A California federal court's recent decision in Federal Trade Commission v. Southern Glazer's secures a rare Robinson-Patman Act pricing limitations agreement, but conditions attached to the decision indicate that practitioners may only see a handful of new private RPA cases a year, says Steven Cernak at Bona Law.

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Series

Being In The Peace Corps Made Me A Better Lawyer

When I served in the Peace Corps, the people of the West African village where I was stationed helped me acclimate to my new surroundings and enabled me to develop problem-solving, teamwork and empathy skills that have bolstered my legal practice far beyond the ability to offer technical advice, says Brian Bewley at McGuireWoods.

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New Weil-Willkie Domains Add To Merger Speculation

By Marialuisa Taddia

Two domain names that combine the names of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP have been registered, fueling speculation about a potential merger between the two prominent Wall Street law firms.

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Bonus Spotlight

Hueston Hennigan Bumps Clerkship Bonus To $205K

By Lynn LaRowe

Trial boutique Hueston Hennigan is offering a $205,000 bonus to lawyers who have completed one or more federal clerkships, the firm confirmed Thursday.

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'Grave Errors': 5th Circ. Boots Judge After AI 'Botch Job'

By Jeff Overley

A Mississippi federal judge's careless use of artificial intelligence tools led to "sloppy edicts" riddled with "falsehoods and fabrications," the Fifth Circuit held in a Thursday night opinion removing the judge from litigation over an anti-DEI law in the Magnolia State because of his "extraordinarily grave errors."

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Texas Judge Probe Shows Lack Of Mental Impairment Process

By Jack Karp

Fifth Circuit officials have done a reasonable job of handling a rare situation involving a Texas federal judge who appears to be undergoing a mental health crisis, but the episode highlights that a more standardized way of dealing with federal judges experiencing mental impairment needs to be established, experts and scholars say.

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Jackson Walker Hits Back At Fee Clawback Sanction Move

By Vince Sullivan

Law firm Jackson Walker said Wednesday that it should not be sanctioned for failing to bring to a Texas federal judge's attention additional cases involving an undisclosed romantic relationship between a bankruptcy judge and one of its attorneys because the U.S. Trustee already investigated those cases and didn't take action.

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GOP Reps. Seek Probe Of Fla. Judge's Sanctions Order

By Courtney Bublé

Top Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee asked the Judicial Conference Thursday to investigate a Florida federal judge for potential misconduct with an order she issued in the case involving the leak of President Donald Trump's tax returns.

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JPMorgan, Ex-Frank Execs Clash Over $2.1M In Legal Fees

By Jarek Rutz

JPMorgan Chase & Co. faced renewed demands in the Delaware Chancery Court on Thursday to pay about $2.1 million in withheld legal fees for convicted Frank founder Charlie Javice and former executive Olivier Amar, as their lawyers accused the bank of using repeated billing objections to delay funding for their criminal defenses.

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Roundup MDL Atty Fund 'Cries Out' For Review, 9th Circ. Told

By Dorothy Atkins

Plaintiffs' firms urged the Ninth Circuit to reverse a ruling Thursday requiring them to contribute 8% of their recovery fees to a common benefit fund in multidistrict litigation over Monsanto's Roundup weed killer, arguing the judge ignored a special master's recommendation and the issue "cries out for some appellate supervision."

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