Archives: Antitrust & Politics

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Antitrust Division Announces Newfound Intent to Pursue Monopolization Cases Criminally

By BakerHostetler on March 4, 2022 Posted in Antitrust & Politics, Antitrust Compliance, Government Investigations

This week, during a panel discussion at the American Bar Association’s annual National Institute on White Collar Crime, Antitrust Division Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard Powers sent shockwaves through the defense bar with a surprising revelation. Speaking about the Antitrust Division’s plans for vigorous enforcement, he revealed that the Division intends to use its power to … Continue Reading

COVID-19 Update: Pricing During COVID-19 Without Gouging or Fixing

By Jeanne-Michele Mariani and BakerHostetler on April 10, 2020 Posted in Antitrust & Politics

As antitrust counsel, we have done our best to keep up to date with the latest news coming from the federal and state governments on price gouging and efforts to combat shortages and hoarding of PPE. Today, we write to provide a few more details on price gouging and how you can set prices in … Continue Reading

COVID-19 Antitrust Agency Announcements and Procedural Changes

By Brady Cummins on April 2, 2020 Posted in Antitrust & Politics, FTC

Over the past several weeks, the U.S. antitrust enforcement agencies – the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) – have made several public announcements regarding changes to antitrust investigations and regulatory processes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to changes to filing and meeting processes, … Continue Reading

The Need for Special Masters in Complex Antitrust Cases

By BakerHostetler on March 5, 2020 Posted in Antitrust & Politics

The ABA resolution advises the bench and bar that utilization of special masters has evolved over the last 50 years from the rare exception to a commonplace tool to manage complex litigation, including antitrust cases. In 2019, the American Bar Association issued a resolution “urging” state and federal courts “to make greater and more systematic … Continue Reading

Private Antitrust Litigation and State Action Immunity in the U.S. since 2015

By BakerHostetler on September 26, 2019 Posted in Antitrust & Politics

An article written by Partners Carl Hittinger and Danyll Foix and Counsel William DeVinney was published Sept. 20, 2019, by Global Competition Review. The article, “United States: Private Antitrust Litigation,” reviews private antitrust litigation developments in the five years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal … Continue Reading

CLE Webinar Series: Antitrust and White-Collar Investigations – What You Should Know

By BakerHostetler on September 18, 2019 Posted in Antitrust & Politics

We invite you to join us for one, two or all three of our upcoming high-level webinars offering vital insights into antitrust issues and white-collar investigations. These CLE webinars will be led by our knowledgeable and experienced attorneys, many of whom are former prosecutors and investigators who worked for the Department of Justice (DOJ) and … Continue Reading

Presidential Powers and Antitrust Politics: Part Three

By Carl Hittinger and Tyson Herrold on October 13, 2017 Posted in Antitrust & Politics, Articles

In July and August, we discussed the president’s role in setting antitrust policy at the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division. Specifically, we pointed out that presidents routinely face competing domestic and foreign policy challenges that require a delicate balance and flexible approach to antitrust enforcement. For example, President John F. Kennedy directed the DOJ to … Continue Reading

Presidential Powers and Antitrust Politics: Part One

By Carl Hittinger and Tyson Herrold on July 31, 2017 Posted in Antitrust & Politics, Articles

In June, we discussed the Trump administration’s candidate for the top post in the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division: Makan Delrahim. During Delrahim’s confirmation hearing, Sen. Amy Klobuchar pressed him, “What would you do, if you’re in this job, if the president, or the vice president, or a White House staffer calls, and wants to … Continue Reading

DOJ’s Possible Antitrust Chief’s Senate Confirmation Hearing

By Carl Hittinger and Tyson Herrold on June 19, 2017 Posted in Antitrust & Politics, Articles

Last month, we discussed Makan Delrahim’s background, including his experience litigating antitrust and intellectual property matters at the Department of Justice during the George W. Bush administration and his extensive lobbying work at Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck. On May 10, senators from the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing and asked Delrahim about several … Continue Reading

Trump’s Pick for Department of Justice Antitrust Division Chief

By Carl Hittinger and Tyson Herrold on May 4, 2017 Posted in Antitrust & Politics, Articles

Last month we discussed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation hearings. Specifically, we noted the Senate Judiciary Committee’s failure to nail Gorsuch down on key antitrust issues, including issues he handled as an experienced antitrust lawyer and decided as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, which we also wrote … Continue Reading

The Senate’s Uneventful Gorsuch Confirmation Hearing

By Carl Hittinger and Tyson Herrold on April 25, 2017 Posted in Antitrust & Politics, Articles, Sherman Act 2

Recently, we discussed in prior articles the antitrust legacy of Neil Gorsuch, currently a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States. Gorsuch has significant antitrust experience, both in private practice and on the bench. While at Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans … Continue Reading

Antitrust Legacy of High Court Nominee Gorsuch in Private Practice

By Carl Hittinger and Tyson Herrold on April 4, 2017 Posted in Antitrust & Politics, Articles, Sherman Act 2

Last month, we discussed the antitrust jurisprudence of Neil Gorsuch, currently of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit judge and nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States. Our discussion focused on three of Gorsuch’s opinions during his decade-long tenure with the court of appeals. Even before Gorsuch was nominated to … Continue Reading

The Antitrust Points of View of Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch

By Carl Hittinger and Tyson Herrold on February 21, 2017 Posted in Antitrust & Politics, Articles

Last March, we wrote a series of articles discussing Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s antitrust legacy on the Supreme Court. We noted Scalia’s admitted discomfort with the Sherman Act, specifically with holding corporate defendants, even monopolists, liable absent strong evidence of anti-competitive conduct. His likely successor appears to possibly hold similar views of the antitrust … Continue Reading

Antitrust, Appointments and Presidential Front-Runners: Part 1

By Carl Hittinger and Julian Perlman on June 6, 2016 Posted in Antitrust & Politics, Articles

Substantial and substantive issues of national importance are often obscured by the usual myopic and frenzied focus on political talking points, sensational sound bites and collateral name-calling. This is perhaps better exemplified in presidential elections than contests for other political offices. The current race to the presidency is plainly setting a new high (or low) … Continue Reading

Sounding the Alarm: White House Agency Warns of Decreasing Competition Across U.S. Economy

By Bill DeVinney on April 25, 2016 Posted in Antitrust & Politics

The Council of Economic Advisors, a White House agency charged with advising the president on economic policy, recently issued a report, Benefits of Competition and Indicators of Market Power, addressing the state of competition in the United States economy. The report expresses concern that competition is being eroded in many industries across the U.S. economy, … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Nominee Garland: An Assessment of Antitrust Expertise

By Carl Hittinger and Julian Perlman on April 6, 2016 Posted in Antitrust & Politics, Articles

Last month, our antitrust column was devoted to the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s antitrust legacy on the U.S. Supreme Court, focusing on his three antitrust opinions for the majority. At that time, we promised to continue that analysis, focusing this month on Scalia’s many antitrust dissents. However, history intervened and President Obama nominated Chief Judge … Continue Reading

Does FTC Vacancy Affect Ability to Resolve Issues?

By Barry Cutler on March 25, 2016 Posted in Antitrust & Politics, FTC Act

Many have been asking in the last few days what the effect will be of Commissioner Julie Brill’s announced resignation from the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”). Will it change things as the Supreme Court seems to be changing without Justice Scalia? The short answer: Probably not. One needs to consider the FTC Act and the … Continue Reading

Former FTC Chair Kovacic Rates the Presidential Candidates

By Julian Perlman on January 27, 2016 Posted in Antitrust & Politics

As has been reported by William McConnell at TheStreet, former FTC Chair Bill Kovacic delivered a frank assessment of the four leading presidential candidates’ antitrust stances at a program sponsored by the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday. Kovacic noted that the dearth of express statements from the candidates regarding antitrust law requires one to look at their … Continue Reading