Corporate & Securities Law

Marsh & McLennan Executives’ Convictions Overturned

Posted on July 07, 2010
On July 3, 2010, the Justice Yates (the trial judge) overturned his decision after a bench trial convicting William Gilman and Edward McNenny of violating the Donnolly Act (New York’s antitrust statute) for rigging bids on insurance contracts.  According to the New York Times, he did so based on “newly discovered contradictory statements made [...

District Denies Twombly Motion in In re Packaged Ice Antitrust Litigation

Posted on July 02, 2010
Yesterday, the United States District for the Eastern District of Michigan denied a motion to dismiss the Direct Purchasers’ Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint in In re Packaged Ice Antitrust Litig., MDL 1952 (Opinion). It held, “Plaintiffs? CAC contains enough factual content to plausibly suggest that these Defendants participated in a nationwide conspiracy to [...

Watershed Supreme Court Decision: Rule 23 Requires Class Actions To Go Forward Even Though State Law Mandates Otherwise

Posted on March 31, 2010
The Supreme Court held today that district courts must follow Fed.R.Civ. 23 in class actions alleging violations of state law even though the state statute prohibits prosecution of the claim as a class action.  In Shady Grove Orthopedic Assoc. v. Allstate Insurance Co...

Resale Price Maintenance Is a Per Se Violation of California Law

Posted on March 12, 2010
On February 23, 2010, the California Attorney General entered into a consent decree with Dermaquest, Inc., which prohibits Dermaquest from engaging in resale price maintenance.  Specifically, the order enjoins Dermaquest from requiring resellers to charge a specified price or to increase their prices...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Wild Law Group PLLC Named Interim Lead Counsel for the Indirect Purchasers Classes in Two Multidistrict Litigations

Posted on March 11, 2010
Wild Law Group PLLC (”WLG”) has been named interim lead and liaison counsel for the indirect purchaser class in In re Packaged Ice Antitrust Litig., MDL No. 1952 and interim lead counsel for the indirect purchaser class in In re Dairy Farmers of America Antitrust Litig...

Bid Rigging Charges Dismissed Against Remaining Marsh Executive at New York Attorney General’s Request

Posted on December 10, 2009
On November 19, 2009, the New York Attorney General’s motion to dismiss the charges arising from alleged bid rigging of insurance policies against Thomas T. Green, Jr. and William L. Burnie (former Marsh executives) and Geri Mandel (a former Zurich executive) was granted by Justice James Yates...

SRAM Indirect Purchasers Obtain Certification of 27 State Damages Subclasses and a Nationwide Injunctive Relief Class

Posted on December 09, 2009
On November 25, 2009, the court in In re Static Random Access Memory Antitrust Litig., No. C 07-01819 CW, 2009 WL 4263524 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 25, 2009), certified 28 indirect purchaser classes ? one nationwide class for injunctive relief under section 16 of the Clayton Act and 27 separate indirect purchaser damages classes under the [...

41 State Attorneys General Ask Congress to Prohibit Resale Price Maintenance

Posted on October 29, 2009
In letters dated October 27, 2009 (State AG Letter re HR 3190; State AG Letter re S 148), 41 state attorneys general wrote to Congress asking them to overrule Leegin Creative Leather Product, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc., 551 U.S. 877 (2007).  In Leegin, the Supreme Court held that resale price maintenance — the practice in [...

Three Former Marsh Executives Acquitted of Donnelly Act Violations

Posted on October 26, 2009
Joseph Peiser, Greg Doherty and Kathleen Drake, former Marsh executives, were acquitted after an 11-month bench trial before Justice James Yates of violating New York’s antitrust law — the Donnelly Act.  They were acquitted of bid-rigging in connection with the sale of insurance policies...

Packaged Ice Indirect Purchasers Assert Their Rights As Victims in the Prosecution of Arctic Glacier and Its Executives

Posted on October 16, 2009
Levitt & Kaizer, on behalf of the class of indirect purchasers in In re Packaged Ice Antitrust Litig., MDL No. 1952 and the individual class representatives, asserted today the class’ rights as victims under the Crime Victims Rights Act (18 U...

Arctic Glacier and Three Former Executives Plead Guilty in the Packaged Ice Cartel

Posted on October 14, 2009
The Antitrust Division’s press release:

The Remaining Apple/Google Common Director Resigns from Google’s Board

Posted on October 13, 2009
Google announced today that Arthur D. Levinson resigned from its board of directors.  However, Mr. Levinson remains on Apple’s board of directors.  Mr. Levinson was the remaining common director on the Google and Apple boards.  As reported in the June 3, 2009 Post, Eric D...

FTC and DOJ Urge Reversal in American Needle v. NFL

Posted on September 30, 2009
As noted in the June 29, 2009 Post, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the Seventh Circuit’s decision in American Needle v. Nat’l Football League.  As explained in the September 4, 2008 Post, American Needle applied the Copperweld doctrine to a sports league’s joint licensing scheme for the first time...

LEVITT & KAIZER Files Amended Class Action Complaint on Behalf of Indirect Purchasers in In Re Packaged Ice Antitrust Litigation

Posted on September 17, 2009
On September 15, 2009, LEVITT & KAIZER and THE LAW OFFICES OF MAX WILD (interim lead counsel for the class) and THE PERRIN LAW FIRM (liaison counsel) filed an amended class action complaint seeking recovery on behalf of packaged ice consumers in 47 states and the District of Columbia...

MLB Grants Exclusive License for Baseball Cards to Topps

Posted on August 12, 2009
On August 6, 2009, the New York Times reported that Major League Baseball granted an exclusive license to Topps for baseball cards.  To justify its legality under the antitrust laws, the MLB Executive Vice President is quoted as having relied on the recent Seventh Circuit decision in American Needle v...

Google Director Resigns from Apple Board Because of Competition Concerns

Posted on August 03, 2009
Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, resigned today from Apple’s board of directors because the increased competition between Google and Apple raised conflicts for him that precluded his participation in many of Apple’s business decisions.  It is unclear whether his resignation was in response to an inquiry by the FTC into Google’s and Apple’s interlocking directorates first [...

Scrap Metal Dealers Acquitted of Price-Fixing

Posted on June 30, 2009
In another blow to the Antitrust Division’s criminal section, two scrap metal dealers were acquitted of price-fixing on June 25, 2009.  The jury returned its verdict in less than four hours.  As reported in the November 16 and March 15, 2008 Posts, the Antitrust Division has lost a number of high profile price-fixing trials including [...

Supreme Grants Certiorari to Review NFL’s Licensing Program in American Needle

Posted on June 29, 2009
The Supreme Court granted certiorari to review American Needle Inc. v. Nat’l Football League, No. 07-4006, 2008 WL 3822782 (7th Cir. Aug. 18, 2008). As explained in the September 4, 2008 Post, that case applied the Copperweld doctrine to a sports league for the first time...

LEVITT & KAIZER Group Appointed Lead Counsel for Indirect Purchaser Class in the Packaged Ice Antitrust Litigation

Posted on June 02, 2009
Yesterday, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan appointed the LEVITT & KAIZER group interim lead counsel, in particular Matthew S. Wild, Richard Levitt, Max Wild and John M. Perrin, for the indirect purchaser class in In re Packaged Ice Antitrust Litigation, MDL 1952...

A Robinson-Patman Act Claim Succeeds at Trial

Posted on May 15, 2009
On April 27, 2009, a district judge ruled in favor of a Robinson-Patman Act plaintiff and granted injunctive relief.  Feesers, Inc. v. Michael Foods, Inc., 2009 WL 1138126 (M.D. Penn. Apr. 27, 2009).  On remand after the Third Circuit (498 F.3d 206 (3d Cir...

Maryland Enacts the First Leegin Repealer Statute

Posted on May 04, 2009
Maryland has amended its antitrust law to make resale price maintenance agreements per se illegal, thus overruling Leegin Creative Leather Products v. PSKS, 127 S.Ct. 2705 (2007).  In Leegin, the Supreme Court overruled Dr. Miles Medical Co. v. John D...

Sham Litigation Allegations Held Sufficient to Avoid Dismissal under Noerr-Pennington Doctrine

Posted on March 08, 2009
As examined in the February 17, 2009 Post, there have been a number of recent appeallte decisions reviewing successful Noerr-Pennington immunity defense assertions.   Alternative Electrodes, LLC v. EPMI, Inc., No. 08-CV-1247 (JFB)(ETB), 2009 WL 250474 (E...

FTC Settles Challenge to Whole Foods’ Acquisition of Wild Oats

Posted on March 06, 2009
Today the FTC announced a settlement with Whole Foods that requires Whole Foods to divest 32 supermarkets in 17 geographic markets.  The FTC also required to Whole Foods to transfer Wild Oats’ intellectual property, including the “Wild Oats” name...

The Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Price Squeeze Claim

Posted on February 26, 2009
Yesterday, the Supreme Court in Pacific Bell Telephone Co. v. Linkline Communications, Inc., No. 07-512 (Feb. 25, 2009) (LinkLine decision  here) unanimously rejected a price squeeze claim alleged under Section 2 of the Sherman Act.  Pac Bell is a DSL transport service and retail service provided...

The Supreme Court Seeks Solicitor General’s View of Whether to Grant Certiorari in a Case that Shielded the NFL’s Licensing Arrangement from Antitrust Scrutiny

Posted on February 24, 2009
The September 4, 2008 Post examined a recent Seventh Circuit decision that held that the NFL’s was immune under the antitrust laws for its licensing of team logos on headwear to Reebok.  American Needle Inc. v. Nat?l Football League, No. 07-4006, 2008 WL 3822782 (7th Cir...

The Tenth Circuit Rejects Deer Valley Ski Rental Store’s Claims for Monopolization and Attempted Monopolization against Ski Resort

Posted on February 23, 2009
On February 18, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a complaint filed by a ski rental store against the Deer Valley, Utah ski resort operator with its own ski rental operation alleging monopolization and attempted monopolization in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act...

The Second and Ninth Circuits Uphold Antitrust Immunity in Three Recent Cases

Posted on February 17, 2009
In January 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a district decision granting a motion to dismiss an action alleging that defendants “conspired to influence the FCC.”  The Court held that such activity cannot give rise to antitrust liability under the Noerr-Pennington doctrine...

The Second Circuit Refuses to Enforce Bar to Collective Action Provision in Arbitration Agreements

Posted on February 06, 2009
In a significant victory to antitrust victims, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit refused to enforce a bar in arbitration contracts that prohibited collective actions.  In re American Express Merchants? Litigation, No. 06-1871-cv (2d Cir...

AT&T Settles Civil Contempt Claim with the DOJ for $2 Million

Posted on January 14, 2009
AT&T settled a civil contempt claim with the DOJ in connection with its failure to comply with the divestiture requirements in a consent decree governing its acquisition of Dobson Communications Corporation.  In particular, AT&T failed to keep confidential customer information relating to the businesses that had to be divested...

FTC Seeks Hold Separate Order on Remand Against Whole Foods

Posted on January 13, 2009
On January 12, 2009, the FTC sought a hold separate order against Whole Foods on remand from the D.C. Circuit’s reversal of the lower court’s denial of a preliminary injunction.  During the pendency of its administrative proceeding, the FTC seeks an order that enjoins Whole Foods from further integration of Wild Oats’ assets, rebranding of [...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.