PLI – Antitrust Counseling & Compliance 2024

Lawyers counseling businesses need a solid foundation in antitrust law principles and an understanding of the latest antitrust developments in order to advise their clients effectively. The consequences of running afoul of antitrust rules can be substantial – federal and state government enforcement actions, jail time for executives, treble damages, class actions and adverse publicity.

With the aggressive enforcement policies of the Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission (FTC), it is more important than ever to know what may violate the law. Attend this program to get the tools you need to help your clients avoid making costly mistakes while still lawfully accomplishing their business goals.

Featured agenda items

10:05 – 11:05 am EDT

Interactions With Competitors: Collaboration and Exclusion

Cooley partner Megan Browdie provided an overview of considerations that companies should keep in mind when interacting with competitors. The session covered:

• Issue-spotting practices that are “hard core” violations of the antitrust laws
• Understanding issues raised by participation in trade associations
• Identifying enforcement trends in noncompete, no-poach and wage-fixing agreements
• Understanding DOJ/FTC competitor collaboration guidelines and the basic framework for thinking about joint ventures and other competitor collaborations
• Providing strategies for minimizing risk when exchanging information with competitors

1:15 – 2:15 pm EDT

Antitrust Issues in Mergers & Acquisitions

Howard Morse, Cooley partner and chair of the PLI event, explained the merger review process and merger guidelines and provide an overview of the latest developments in merger enforcement. The session covered:

• The merger review process and changes implemented by the Biden administration
• How to make sense of complicated Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act rules
• Procedural changes by the Biden administration – from ending early termination to ongoing investigation letters
• Coordination of global competition filings
• Antitrust risk-shifting provisions in merger agreements
• How to avoid “gun jumping” while preparing to integrate
• What we can learn from HSR statistics
• Changes to the HSR rules and form
• How to better understand the legal and economic theories that the DOJ and FTC are using to evaluate transactions
• The headlines and the enforcement record
• Key take aways from the new DOJ/FTC Merger Guidelines
• Horizontal and vertical merger analysis
• Acquisitions of “nascent” or “potential” competitors
• Partial acquisitions, roll-ups and acquisitions by private equity firms
• The new focus on labor competition

For more information, please email Yena Lee.