Author: Jarod Bona It is illegal under the antitrust laws for competitors to agree not to steal each others’ employees. For more about that, you can read our article about how the antitrust laws encourage stealing. Yes, you read that correctly. But this article isn’t about stealing or even agreeing…
The Antitrust Attorney Blog
What does the Coty judgment mean for businesses that do business in Europe?
Authors: Magdalena Jakubicz and Luis Blanquez Magdalena Jakubicz is a Sr. Corporate Counsel at Cisco where she helps her business clients to achieve their goals while ensuring antitrust compliance across EMEAR and Latin America. Magdalena’s day-to-day responsibilities include the following: designing and delivering compliance programs; co-leading commercial litigations and responses…
Three Components of Every Effective Appellate Argument
Author: Jarod Bona This website is called The Antitrust Attorney Blog, not the Appellate Attorney Blog. But I have combined an appellate practice with my antitrust practice my entire legal career and we do a lot of appellate work at Bona Law. So sometimes we address appellate, writing, and briefing issues…
Antitrust and Competition Law is Global: Bona Law Expands Its International Resources through IR Global
Author: Luis Blanquez Antitrust and competition law is a global issue. Markets that could be national are often global instead (because if they aren’t naturally local, there usually isn’t reason to stop at a country’s borders). Bona Law embraces this international reality. That is part of what attracted me to…
Three Lessons for an HSR Mergers and Acquisitions Problem: Did you “Aggregate”?
The FTC Headquarters in Washington, DC. The cornerstone to the building was laid in 1937 by Franklin Roosevelt, reportedly using the same trowel George Washington used to lay the cornership of the U.S. Capital in 1793. In the spirit of competition, the National Gallery of Art has set its sights…
Does a Refusal to Deal With a Competitor Create Antitrust Liability?
Author: Jarod Bona Yes, in certain narrow circumstances, refusing to do business with a competitor violates Section 2 of the Sherman Act, which regulates monopolies, attempts at monopoly, and exclusionary conduct. This probably seems odd—don’t businesses have the freedom to decide whether to do business with someone, especially when that…
Considering a Merger or Acquisition? Avoid these 10 Minefields in your HSR Filing to the Antitrust Agencies
This 1942 sculpture by Michael Lantz, 17-feet long, is meant to suggest a heroic figure (the FTC) restraining violent and untamed American commerce. Author: Steven Levitsky If you liked the old computer game, “Minesweeper,” then you’re ready to take on Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) filings for antitrust review of mergers & acquisitions.…
Antitrust News: The European Commission imposes fines for the first time in 15 years as a result of online retail price restrictions (RPM)
Author: Luis Blanquez On July 24, 2018, the European Commission fined manufacturers Asus, Denon & Marantz, Philips and Pioneer for over €111 million for restricting the ability of online retailers to set their own retail prices for a variety of widely-used consumer electronics products. Background The Commission’s e-commerce sector inquiry,…
Antitrust News: Fifth Circuit Stays FTC Administrative Action in Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Case
Author: Jarod Bona The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit agreed on July 17, 2018 to stay the FTC’s Action against the Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board. The Fifth Circuit’s one-line decision rejects the FTC’s opposition to the Board’s requested stay and allows immediate appellate review of…
Loving—And Using—The Weaponized First Amendment: The Supreme Court’s decisions in Janus and NIFLA
Author: Robert Everett Johnson, The Institute for Justice Robert Everett Johnson litigates cases protecting private property, economic liberty, and freedom of speech. He is also a nationally-recognized expert on civil forfeiture. Bona Law has a strong relationship with The Institute for Justice, going back to Jarod Bona’s clerkship with the…