The FTC has taken its strongest actions yet to limit private contract terms limiting employees’ ability to work for competitors, both issuing a proposed rule barring most noncompete agreements and filing complaints and consent decrees with three companies prohibiting their specific noncompete provisions. Prudent employers should evaluate their own employment contracts to assess the risk
Lee Berger
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The FTC Updates Size of Transaction Thresholds and Filing Fees for Premerger Notification Filings
By Michael Weiner, John Kavanagh, Damon Kalt, Lee Berger & Travis West on
On January 23, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced updated size-of-transaction thresholds for premerger notification (Hart-Scott-Rodino or “HSR”) filings, as well as new HSR filing fees and new de minimis thresholds for interlocking officer and director prohibitions under Section 8 of the Clayton Act.
The HSR filing thresholds, which are revised annually based on…
DOJ Blocks the Penguin/Simon & Schuster Deal: A Signature Antitrust Win for the Biden Administration
By Michael Weiner, John Kavanagh, Damon Kalt, Lee Berger & Travis West on
On October 31, 2022, Judge Florence Pan, now on the D.C. Circuit but sitting by designation in the District Court of the District of Columbia, delivered a “treat” to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and a “trick” to Penguin Random House by blocking its $2.18 billion purchase of rival publisher Simon & Schuster. The opinion, which was released on November 7, 2022, represents a comprehensive endorsement of the DOJ’s monopsony theory of the case and a complete rejection of the defendants’ counterarguments. After a string of defeats, the case marks the first win for the DOJ under the Biden administration in a litigated merger challenge.…