Author: Molly Donovan & Luis Blanquez California continues to lead the trend away from non-competes with a new law that packs yet another punch against employers’ use of these very common contractual restrictions on employee mobility. Non-competes—also called restrictive covenants—typically prohibit an employee from taking employment with a rival firm…
Author: Molly Donovan In an opinion written by Judge Easterbrook, and a major win for per se no-poach claims, the Seventh Circuit has vacated a district court’s dismissal of a Sherman Act, Section 1 no-poach claim against McDonald’s. The case involves clauses that McDonald’s formerly included, as standard language, in…
Author: Molly Donovan You may remember Gordon—in many ways, he was dominant in the 5th grade, and though his behavior was questionable at times, he was very popular. I’m writing this story because Gordon is starting a new school year and has ascended to MIDDLE SCHOOL. Very cool, but very…
Authors: Steven Cernak and Luis Blanquez In case you missed it on the eve of a holiday weekend, the FTC and several states settled their challenge of Amgen’s acquisition of Horizon last Friday. The case might have seemed like an odd one to antitrust and merger practitioners looking only at…
Authors: Jon Cieslak & Molly Donovan Having recently defended an investigation brought by the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division—which was closed without prosecution of our client—we had the opportunity to reflect on ways that lawyers can navigate the high-stakes interactions with government enforcers who are investigating antitrust or other…
Authors: Steven Cernak and Luis Blanquez As we explained in a prior post, the new draft merger Guidelines issued recently by the FTC and DOJ cite to several older court opinions that may be unfamiliar to antitrust practitioners who have been focused for decades exclusively on earlier versions of the…
Authors: Steven Cernak and Luis Blanquez As we explained in a prior post, the new draft merger Guidelines issued recently by the FTC and DOJ cite to several older court opinions that might not be familiar to antitrust practitioners who have been focused for decades exclusively on earlier versions of…
Authors: Steven Cernak and Luis Blanquez On July 19, 2023, the FTC and DOJ Antitrust Division issued the draft of their long-anticipated Merger Guidelines. Like prior iterations, these Guidelines are meant to explain to potential merging parties how the agencies will evaluate their proposed transactions. Earlier versions included input from…
Authors: Steve Cernak and Luis Blanquez This week a federal judge in California denied a preliminary injunction to block Microsoft’s $68.7 billion merger with Activision Blizzard Inc. Both parties may now move ahead and close the deal––subject to further clearance in the UK and Canada––before the July 18 contractual deadline.…
Authors: Steven Cernak and Luis Blanquez During the last week of June 2023, the Federal Trade Commission proposed making the most drastic changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino form since the form was created in 1978. According to FTC Chair Lina M. Khan’s statement, joined by Commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro…