Antitrust Law Source

Jay L. Levine

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Jay Levine is a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. Litigation Department. His practice is concentrated in complex litigation and counseling and he is co-chair of the firm’s Antitrust and Consumer Protection Practice Group. He is also the managing editor of the firm’s innovative Antitrust Law Source blog and host of its podcast, as well editor of the firm’s Food And Agriculture Quarterly.

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Porter Wright presents Food & Agriculture Quarterly

By Jay L. Levine on Categories: Agriculture
Welcome to our inaugural issue of Food & Agricultural Quarterly (FAQ). This new, industry-focused publication was designed to focus on the key issues food and agriculture industry stakeholders are facing – regardless of whether you are a small, family-owned farming operation or international food producer. In our first issue, we bring together three rather diverse … Continue Reading

DCMA agent requirements changing

By Jay L. Levine on Categories: Privacy & Data Security
Bob Morgan, our colleague at Technology Law Source, shares detail about the upcoming Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) agent filing change that takes effect Dec. 31. This agent filing is a necessary element of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) safe harbor provision (Title II of the DMCA (the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act)) — an Act which … Continue Reading

Is it time to change the focus of the antitrust laws? The debate is heating up

By Jay L. Levine and Porter Wright on Categories: ABC's of Antitrust
There is currently a tug-of-war going on over the heart and soul of the antitrust laws. Well, perhaps that is a bit dramatic. But it is certainly fair to say that there is surging sentiment that the antitrust laws, and specifically antitrust enforcement, should be recalibrated to address concerns that are “populist” in nature. This … Continue Reading

Access to “data” – the new competitive battlefield

By Jay L. Levine and Porter Wright on Categories: ABC's of Antitrust, Antitrust & Intellectual Property, Retail
Data is a buzzword popular in the media today. Most often we hear or read the word in conjunction with a breach of a major retailer or healthcare company. It is also used by companies to target us with behavioral advertising. But it also has become the new coin of the realm. Being neither a … Continue Reading

Don’t wannacry? Help your IT staff prevent ransomware

By Jay L. Levine on Categories: Privacy & Data Security, Technology
The latest cyberattack  making the news (and some say the largest to date) is the “Wannacry” ransomware.  The ransomware looks for computers containing an operating system vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows platform and then appears to infect computers… without a single click required.  My colleague, Brian Hall, outlines the risks employers may face when dealing with cyberattacks  — as well as how human … Continue Reading

FTC revises HSR and interlocking directorate thresholds

By Jay L. Levine on Categories: ABC's of Antitrust, Mergers & Acquisitions
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the annual changes to the notification thresholds for filings under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (HSR), as well as certain other values under the HSR rules. As background, the HSR Act requires that acquisitions of voting securities or assets that exceed certain thresholds be disclosed to U.S. … Continue Reading

Antitrust & politics: A match made in…

By Jay L. Levine on Categories: Civil Government Enforcement, Legislative
After eight years of antitrust enforcement under the Obama administration that some consider robust, while others are more critical, it is fair to wonder what we can expect from a Trump or Clinton administration. Of course, it is often difficult, if not dangerous, to make such prognostications, but it is worth considering the question nonetheless. … Continue Reading

Breaking: President Obama’s executive order requires all federal agencies to examine antitrust issues

By Jay L. Levine on Categories: Legislative
Earlier this morning, President Obama announced the issuance of an executive order that broadly requires all executive agencies and departments to take steps to address competition concerns. The executive order comes on the heels of a report issued by the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors that details the increasing concentration of markets in the … Continue Reading

Supreme Court refuses to deny use of “representative evidence” to certify a class

By Jay L. Levine and Porter Wright on Categories: Civil Litigation
Faced with what defense lawyers hoped would be another arrow in their quiver to fight class certification, the Supreme Court refused to slam the door on the use of “representative evidence” in proving predominance under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3). Instead it held that, in certain cases, “representative evidence” – evidence representative of a … Continue Reading

FTC revises HSR and interlocking directorate thresholds

By Jay L. Levine on Categories: ABC's of Antitrust
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the annual changes to the notification thresholds for filings under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (HSR), as well as certain other values under the HSR rules. As background, the HSR Act requires that acquisitions of voting securities or assets that exceed certain thresholds be disclosed to U.S. … Continue Reading

FTC chief administrative law judge: No harm, no foul

By Jay L. Levine and Porter Wright on Categories: Consumer Protection, Privacy & Data Security
In a long awaited decision, the FTC’s chief administrative law judge (ALJ) ruled against FTC staff and held that LabMD did not violate Section 5 of the FTC Act by not reasonably securing customer data. The basis for the decision was that staff could not prove that customers would suffer “substantial injury” from LabMD’s data … Continue Reading

More insights into Amazon …

By Jay L. Levine on Categories: ABC's of Antitrust, Antitrust & Intellectual Property, Technology
I recently spoke with Zosha Millman  of LXBN  for her recent post Is Amazon Opening Another Confusing Antitrust Door with Its New Sale Ban? As you can imagine, Amazon’s recent move to cease offering Apple or Google streaming devices has left many consumers a bit, shall we say “primed”.  Check out Zosha’s article for more details… one … Continue Reading

Let the antitrust battles begin… State licensures of professional services: A look at personal training

By Jay L. Levine on Categories: Civil Government Enforcement, Consumer Protection, Criminal Government Enforcement
With the explosion of personal services industries, many states are seeking to enact new professional licensing and regulation in many industries. From healthcare to eyebrow threading to personal training, states are considering who can practice and what type of training is necessary.  Porter Wright’s Brodie Butland, B.Sc., Starting Strength coach shares his recent Starting Strength … Continue Reading

FTC Breaks 100-Year Silence and Issues “Statement of Enforcement Principles”

By Jay L. Levine and Allen Carter on Categories: ABC's of Antitrust, Consumer Protection
On August 13, the FTC issued its “Statement of Enforcement Principles Regarding ‘Unfair Methods of Competition’ Under Section 5 of the FTC Act.” The 1-page policy statement provides a general framework for the Commission’s exercise of its “standalone” Section 5 authority to fight anticompetitive acts or practices. A bit of context might help to understand … Continue Reading

Managing post-data breach litigation just got harder

By Jay L. Levine on Categories: Civil Litigation, Consumer Protection, Privacy & Data Security, Retail
Data breaches are messy stuff, no doubt about that. They consume a huge amount of corporate resources, damage a company’s goodwill and can cost a lot of money. No real news there. And while the technological challenges in preventing, and responding to, data breaches are ever-changing – fueling the booming cybersecurity industry – the corporate … Continue Reading

Antitrust Probe of Movie Theater Chains Enters Next Act

By Jared Klaus and Jay L. Levine on Categories: ABC's of Antitrust, Civil Government Enforcement
The U.S. Department of Justice has turned its spotlight on AMC Entertainment, Inc. in the government’s antitrust probe of the nation’s movie theater industry.  In an 8-K filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, AMC announced that it has received a civil subpoena from the DOJ seeking information and documents relating to AMC’s involvement … Continue Reading

World’s top banks plead guilty to gaming foreign-currency markets

By Jay L. Levine on Categories: Criminal Government Enforcement, International
Our colleagues at  Federal Securities Law Blog report that four of the world’s largest banks — Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland — have pleaded guilty to federal antitrust violations for conspiring to manipulate foreign-currency markets. Under the plea agreements, the banks have agreed to be placed on probation and pay criminal fines … Continue Reading

Ascertainability is different from other class action elements …seriously, we aren’t joking

By Jay L. Levine and Porter Wright on Categories: Consumer Protection, Privacy & Data Security, Retail, Technology
A little over a year ago we wrote to discuss the FTC’s Order against Aaron’s, one of the country’s largest rent-to-own (“RTO”) stores, charging that its franchisees were spying on its customers.  Well, the inevitable follow-on class actions were filed and recently, in Byrd v. Aaron’s Inc., — F.3d –, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 6190 … Continue Reading

Supreme Court to states – actively supervise your regulating boards or else

By Darcy Jalandoni and Jay L. Levine on Categories: Consumer Protection, Health Care
The North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners can no longer regulate the practice of dentistry without active state supervision—and neither can other state professional boards controlled by active market participants. Last Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that the state action … Continue Reading

FTC revises HSR and interlocking directorate thresholds

By Jay L. Levine on Categories: ABC's of Antitrust, Mergers & Acquisitions
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the annual changes to the notification thresholds for filings under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (HSR), as well as certain other values under the HSR rules. As background, the HSR Act requires that acquisitions of voting securities or assets that exceed certain thresholds be disclosed to U.S. … Continue Reading

Hospital pays six figures to settle data breach enforcement suit

By Jay L. Levine on Categories: Consumer Protection, Health Care, Privacy & Data Security, Technology
At the end of last month, Boston hospital Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) settled a data breach lawsuit brought by the Massachusetts Attorney General related to the 2012 theft of a physician’s laptop. Under a consent decree entered on Nov. 20, 2014, BIDMC agreed to pay $100,000 and to take a number of steps … Continue Reading
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