Ever wonder how many lawyers can fit into one courtroom? Judge Catherine Perry of the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Missouri just may find out. On July 14, Judge Perry granted a motion to certify a class made up of lawyers in Downing v. Goldman Phipps PLLC.[1] Although plaintiffs have not made … Continue Reading
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
The Capper-Volstead Act is a powerful 1922 law that allows farmers and their cooperatives to act together for “collectively processing, preparing for market, handling, and marketing in interstate and foreign commerce.” Marketing as it is referred to here, includes price-setting and other conduct that would otherwise violate antitrust laws if not for Capper-Volstead. In my … Continue Reading
As we have explained in the past, parties to a merger or acquisition must report the transaction to federal antitrust authorities – the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – provided the parties and the transaction exceed certain thresholds. The statute that governs that reporting obligation, Section … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: this post also appears on FedSecLaw.com Almost 40 years ago, Congress passed the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (the “HSR Act”). The HSR Act provided a mechanism pursuant to which partied to an acquisition of assets or voting securities would be required, if certain thresholds were met, to file a notification form with … Continue Reading
