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Days before President Trump’s inauguration, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) replaced their Antitrust Guidance for Human Resources Professionals (“2016 Guidance”), which had been in place since 2016.  The Antitrust Guidelines for Business Activities Affecting Workers covers similar ground as the prior guidance, but expands its reach to a few areas emphasized by the Biden Administration.  For example, where the 2016 Guidance primarily covered 1) naked agreements between employers not to poach workers or fix wages and 2) information-sharing arrangements between competing employers, the replacement guidance expands its coverage to other areas, including restrictions in the franchise and independent contractor contexts, non-competition agreements, ancillary agreements such as non-disclosure agreements, non-solicitation agreements, liquidated damages provisions, and conduct such as false earnings claims.Continue Reading DOJ and FTC Release Replacement Human Resources Guidelines to an Uncertain Future

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) secured a record consent penalty of $5.6 million against two merging parties on January 7, 2025 for improper pre-merger coordination, marking the agency’s first gun-jumping action in over a quarter century.  Verdun Oil Company and XCL Resources Holdings had agreed to acquire EP Energy LLC in a transaction requiring prior notification to the FTC and the U.S. Department of Justice under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (“HSR Act”).  In the substantive antitrust investigation that followed the parties’ HSR Act notifications, the FTC secured a commitment for Verdun and XCL to divest assets as a condition of FTC approval for the transaction.  The FTC also discovered that the parties had violated the HSR Act.Continue Reading FTC Secures Record Gun-Jumping Penalty in a Case with Several Lessons for Merging Parties

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On November 12, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) published its Final Rule and Statement of Basis and Purpose amending the Premerger Notification and Report Form filed for transactions reported under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (“HSR Act”). 

Unless the Final Rule is delayed or rescinded by the FTC, the new…

On October 10, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) released final revisions of the rules that govern filings under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (the “Final Rules”). The Final Rules will take effect 90 days after they are ultimately published in the Federal Register.

The FTC scaled back or…

Judge Ada E. Brown of the Northern District of Texas this afternoon granted summary judgment in favor of Ryan, LLC and the plaintiff-intervenors in the case of Ryan, LLC v. Federal Trade Commission challenging the FTC’s ban on post-employment non-competes (“Non-Compete Rule”). Judge Brown concluded that the FTC lacked statutory authority to promulgate the…

On April 26, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had finalized changes to the Health Breach Notification Rule (HBNR). These changes, which go into effect on June 25, 2024, are intended to modernize aspects of the HBNR such that the HBNR applies to entities not covered under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The updated HBNR follows the FTC’s previously stated intention in a 2021 policy statement to broaden the interpretation of the HBNR to address the growing number of digital health applications, websites, and consumer-facing technology that were not subject to HIPAA. The scope of the finalized rule therefore aims to apply the HBNR to health care technology and digital health companies that obtain personal health records (PHR) and PHR identifiable health information.Continue Reading FTC Finalizes Broader Changes to the Health Breach Notification Rule

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On May 9, 2024, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced the formation of the Antitrust Division’s Task Force on Health Care Monopolies and Collusion (“HCMC”). The HCMC “will guide the division’s enforcement strategy and policy approach in health care, including by facilitating policy advocacy, investigations and, where warranted, civil and criminal enforcement in health care markets.” Continue Reading DOJ Focus on Health Care Marches Forward with Formation of Task Force

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On May 7, 2024, in Ryan, LLC v. FTC et al., Judge Ada Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas set a briefing schedule on Ryan’s Motion for Stay of Effective Date and Preliminary Injunction (the “Motion”) attacking the FTC Final Rule banning employer-employee non‑compete restrictions, and ordered that she would rule on the merits of the Motion on or before July 3, 2024—two months before the FTC Final Rule is scheduled to become effective on September 4, 2024. Continue Reading Motion Seeking to Stay or Enjoin FTC Final Rule Banning Employer-Employee Non‑Competes Set for Ruling by July 3, 2024

On Tuesday, April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) voted 3-2 to adopt a Final Rule banning virtually all non-compete agreements between employers and employees.  The Final Rule will not go into effect until 120 days after its publication in the Federal Register (the “Effective Date”), and its enforcement could be further delayed or barred by court challenge or Congressional intervention. Continue Reading The FTC Adopts Final Rule Banning Employee Non-Compete Agreements