Practitioner Contributions

By Pooja Nair, Foley & Lardner LLP Since she emerged in the national spotlight as the spokesperson and developer of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Elizabeth Warren has been perceived as a political force to be reckoned with. After her potential candidacy to be director of the CFPB was soundly rejected by Republicans, Warren [...]

By A. Paul Victor, Seth C. Farber, and   Brandon W. Duke, Winston & Strawn LLP  I. Introduction One aspect of corporate antitrust plea agreements that has remained consistent over the years is the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s (sometimes “Division”) practice of listing by name the specific individuals who are excluded from the protections afforded [...]

Over the past few years, companies’ use of corporate blogs and social media sites to communicate with members of the investment community has grown significantly, to the point that some companies have abandoned traditional media outlets for release of their earnings announcements.

By Lisa Ann T. Ruggiero, Joseph E. Hopkins, and Anthony Molloy, Patton Boggs LLP Disasters happen. Whether they are natural, man-made, or human error, disasters are an unfortunate part of existence in a modern world. Malcolm Gladwell may have said it best: “[w]hat accidents like the Challenger should teach us is that we have constructed [...]

Courts approving class action settlements often review how the parties have provided for settlement funds that either (1) cannot be distributed to individual class members because, for example, proof of individual claims is burdensome or distributing damages is costly; or (2) remain unclaimed following distribution to class members who make claims.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 eliminated the “private advisers” exemption in Section 203(b)(3) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”), upon which many advisers to private funds historically relied. As a result, many advisers to private funds registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for the first time.

Alexandre Lamy and Maria van Wagenberg, Baker & McKenzie In recent years, a growing number of U.S. state and local governments have adopted divestment measures targeting companies doing business or investing in Iran and Sudan, among other countries. These divestment measures typically prohibit governmental entities from investing in or contracting with certain listed companies. Because [...]

Merger remedies are supposed to be just that: remedies that preserve competition.

But one provision used with increasing frequency by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice—requiring “prior notice” of non-reportable transactions—can have the opposite effect.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“FRB”)recently announced the issuance of proposed rules to impose enhanced prudential standards and early remediation requirements on certain foreign banking organizations (“FBOs”) and foreign nonbank financial companies operating in the U.S. designated for supervision by the FRB (“FBO Rules”).

The cosmetic industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years. Promises of younger looking skin, smoother hair, and whiter teeth are advertised extensively on television and in magazines. In 2011, sales of skin care products in the United States reached $10.3 billion, amounting to a 3.6 percent increase over 2010, and an 11 percent increase over 2006.

By Elizabeth B. Sandza, David M. Ross, and Samuel I. Reich, Wilson Elser Arbitration has become a favored means for companies to resolve disputes. Businesses are wary of the often detrimental effects of forum and judge shopping by plaintiffs, the burdens and costs associated with litigating cases that may drag on for years and include oppressive discovery [...]

The little known and often ignored Economic Espionage Act has lain relatively dormant since its passage 16 years ago, but it has gotten a quadruple adrenaline shot in the past few months. This suggests that companies will soon see a surge in the federal government’s EEA enforcement efforts.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in the Phoebe Putney case (104 ATRR 254) highlights a few important distinctions between the respective U.S. and Canadian doctrines employed to immunize allegedly anticompetitive transactions authorized by legislation.

With the 113th Congress mired in an atmosphere of partisan rancor over taxes and spending, Americans wonder whether—and how—House Republicans and Senate Democrats will work together to make meaningful legislative progress. Although governing in a divided Congress hinges on bipartisan compromise, in at least one aspect of congressional life, majoritarian politics does not necessarily rule the day.

On February 12, President Obama signed an Executive Order (“the Order”) mandating increased efforts to improve the nation’s cybersecurity. 1 On the same day, the President signed Presidential Decision Directive 21, Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience (“the Presidential Directive”).

Commercial activity of the type often drawing antitrust scrutiny is rapidly increasing in the area of health information technology (HIT).

The term HIT captures a wide range of products and services, including patient data organization and storage, payment tools, outcomes databases, and many others.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is poised to consider final rules governing swap execution facilities,1 or SEFs, a new entity created by the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010. SEFs, as defined by Congress, are clearly distinct from vertically-integrated futures exchanges, and are intended to compete with other SEFs to execute swaps transactions for customers.

By David J. Levine and Pamela D. Walther, McDermott, Will & Emery A number of recent trade actions involving renewable energy, particularly in the solar sector, are complicating the business landscape domestically and globally for a wide range of entities operating in these industries. In light of finite demand and increasing global production capacity of renewable [...]

By Richard Falek, Elizabeth Cate, and Brandon Duke, Winston & Strawn LLP A recent complaint filed by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), challenging the acquisition of PowerReviews, Inc. by Bazaarvoice, Inc., should serve as a cautionary tale for all parties contemplating a transaction, regardless of the size of the transaction and the reporting thresholds set in [...]

By Jayne Navarre The debate over whether or not law firms and lawyers should use social media is over—thank you very much. In fact, gains in adoption of the medium are making social business an imperative for everyone from Main Street to Madison Avenue. However, we’re not at the pinnacle yet: There still remains a [...]