Department of Justice Antitrust Division

Department of Justice Antitrust Division

(Richard Wolfram, Esq.)/

At a historic moment in the country when political winds are doing flips, turning impossible corners and reaching even weather forecasting, it is imperative that law enforcement remain solidly grounded in fact and the law. An abiding hope, maybe now more than ever, and no less true for antitrust, especially given its economic and marketplace…

compliance programs, Department of Justice Antitrust Division

(Law Office of Robert Connolly)/

There has been a great deal of publicity surrounding the Antitrust Division’s recent announcement that a corporation involved in a criminal antitrust violation may get credit for an antitrust compliance program if certain conditions are met.  The credit may include a DPA (Deferred Prosecution Agreement: the government reaches a plea agreement with the defendant; files…

U.S. Department of Justice

(Wolters Kluwer)/

In April 2018, the Department of Justice announced an initiative to terminate “legacy” antitrust judgments—those lacking an express termination date. These types of judgments date from the early days of the Sherman Act until the late 1970s, when the Antitrust Division adopted the general practice of including sunset provisions that automatically terminate judgments, usually 10…

Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Price Fixing

(Law Office of Robert Connolly)/

In an earlier post I discussed the Fiscal Year 2018 Antitrust Division statistics for criminal cases filed and noted that they were down dramatically (here).  This is not a one year drop off, but a trend since the high water mark of 2015 (here).  It is not just case filings that are down, but also…

Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Price Fixing

(Law Office of Robert Connolly)/

The DOJ issued a standard press release yesterday announcing yet another individual guilty plea in its long running real estate foreclosure auction collusion investigation: Seventh Mississippi Real Estate Investor Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Rig Bids at Public Foreclosure Auctions.   According to the press release to date there have been “convictions of well over 100 other…

Department of Justice Antitrust Division

(Law Office of Robert Connolly)/

The headline sounds funny, but the story is no laughing matter.  A plea agreement in the electrolytic capacitor investigation between the United States and Nippon Chemi-Con (“NCC”) is in jeopardy because of an unfortunate conflict of interest lapse by an attorney at the Department of Justice.  There was a hearing before Judge Donato yesterday on…

compliance programs, Department of Justice Antitrust Division

(Scharf Banks Marmor, LLC)/ /Leave a comment

On April 9, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice held a public roundtable on the subject of criminal antitrust compliance.  If any other Division of the DOJ had done this, it would not be particularly exceptional, but within the antitrust compliance world, it was significant—exciting even! Since at least the time of the…

Antitrust-General, Department of Justice Antitrust Division, FTC Enforcement, State Enforcement

(Wolters Kluwer)/ /Leave a comment

The following post offers a look back at important trends in antitrust enforcement over the past year. Many of the significant developments that are detailed below, including merger challenges and leadership changes, will have a lasting impact on 2018 and beyond. MERGER ENFORCEMENT Department of Justice litigation. The biggest antitrust news story of 2017 was…

Department of Justice Antitrust Division

(Law Office of Robert Connolly)/ /Leave a comment

If you ever wanted to sell a student on pursuing a career in antitrust because of the interesting possibilities, Brent Snyder’s career (which is far from over) would be a good case in point.  Mr. Snyder graduated with Honors from the University of Texas School of Law, where he was an Associate Editor of the…

Antitrust-General, Department of Justice Antitrust Division

(Law Office of Robert Connolly)/ /Leave a comment

There has been much speculation about what a Trump presidency will mean for antitrust enforcement at the Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission.  Much of the wonder is about whether Trump will take an activist approach he suggested during the campaign, for example, when he said he thought Amazon had “a huge antitrust problem” and…