Antitrust and Consumer Protection Section

On September 10, 2019 the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the grant of summary judgment to counter-defendant Intellectual Ventures by district courts in Maryland and Virginia. Read more

The Antitrust, UCL and Privacy Section is currently recruiting attorneys and law students to participate in the 2019-2020 Mentorship Program. You may apply to be a mentor, mentee, or both. If you are interested in joining the Mentorship Program, you must complete the following questionnaire(s) no later than Friday, September 6, 2019. Read more

Penelope A. Preovolos, the 2019 “Antitrust Lawyer of the Year” and a partner at Morrison & Foerster, will discuss why she became a competition lawyer – and stayed one. In this fireside chat, Penelope will be interviewed by antitrust litigator (and Hastings alum) Francis O. Scarpulla. Read more

Penelope A. Preovolos, the 2019 “Antitrust Lawyer of the Year” and a partner at Morrison & Foerster, will discuss why she became a competition lawyer – and stayed one. Read more

Bob Connolly Law Office Of Robert Connolly Judge Beth Labson Freeman recently denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment in an indirect purchaser’s complaint alleging a price-fixing conspiracy among the major suppliers of titanium dioxide. Home Depot, U.S.A., Inc. v. E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Company, et al., Case No. 16-cv-04865-BLF; 2019 WL 3804667 (N.D. Cal. 8/13/2019) .  In a similar suit brought by the direct purchasers of titanium oxide, the District Court for the District of Maryland denied the defendants’… Read more

Harrison (Buzz) Frahn IV, John Goheen, Geoff Schmelkin Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP On July 25, 2019, U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero of the Northern District of California granted a motion to dismiss the antitrust suit brought by the City of Oakland (“Oakland”) against the Oakland Raiders (the “Raiders”), the National Football League (“NFL”), and all thirty-one other NFL teams over the Raiders’ planned relocation to Las Vegas.  City of Oakland v. Oakland Raiders, et al., No. 18-cv-07444-JCS, 2019… Read more

In re: National Football League's “Sunday Ticket” Antitrust Litig., — F.3d —-, No. 17-56119, 2019 WL 3788253 (9th Cir. Aug. 16, 2019) [Sunday Ticket] Lesley E. Weaver, Anne K. Davis, and Joshua S. Samra Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP SUMMARY Sunday Ticket, a putative antitrust class action by commercial and residential DirecTV subscribers (hereinafter, the “Plaintiffs”) on appeal to the Ninth Circuit from the Central District of California’s dismissal, alleges that the out-of-market game telecasting arrangements between the National Football… Read more

Mentor Guidelines As a mentor, you are a valuable resource to your mentees. As a guide, counselor, and friend, you inspire and facilitate professional achievements. The developmental transitions faced by young attorneys in each of these areas are enriched by your experience, wisdom, and guidance. Your role as a mentor is a mix of friend and teacher. Relationships developed with your mentees become channels for the passage of information, advice, challenges, opportunities, and support, with the ultimate goals of facilitating… Read more

While the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) has an effective date of January 1, 2020, there are several bills to amend the law currently pending in the California Legislature that could be signed into law by October. In July, the California Senate Judiciary Committee voted on several bills that would amend the CCPA, and below is a table summarizing the status of the key amendments. The bills that passed will be on the Senate floor for a vote when the Senate reconvenes on August 12. The Senate will have until September 13 to pass the bills. Read more

On July 11, 2019, Makan Delrahim announced a major reversal in the Antitrust Division's treatment of Corporate antitrust compliance programs. In a speech titled “Wind of Change: A New Model for Incentivizing Antitrust Compliance Programs,” Delrahim stated: “effective immediately, the Antitrust Division will: (1) change its approach to crediting compliance at the charging stage; (2) clarify its approach to evaluating the effectiveness of compliance programs at the sentencing stage; and (3) for the first time, make public a guidance document for the evaluation of compliance programs in criminal antitrust investigations.” Read more