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Barbara Sicalides

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From shepherding transactions through regulatory challenges to defending against civil and criminal antitrust investigations and litigation, clients turn to Barbara for clear, thorough, and practical advice on complex antitrust and competition matters.

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Within hours of each other, an Oregon federal district court followed by a Washington state court enjoined the $24.6 billion merger of the Kroger and Albertsons grocery chains. The Oregon court adopted the controversial 2023 Merger Guidelines’ market concentration presumption and largely accepted the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) and its expert’s arguments for a narrow grocery market. In a loss for the FTC, the Oregon court declined to find that the proposed transaction was likely to substantially harm competition in the labor market alleged.

The Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and several state attorneys general are challenging the American Airlines Group, Inc. (American) collaboration with competitor JetBlue Airways Corp. (JetBlue). Both sides to the dispute accuse the other of harming competition among airlines. On September 21, the DOJ and its state attorney general partners filed…

On September 23, the U.S. Senate advanced legislation that puts all businesses at risk of defending antitrust lawsuits across different jurisdictions at the same time. Senate Bill 1787 (S. 1787) — the Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act of 2021 — prevents defendants from transferring state antitrust lawsuits to more favorable venues. This regulatory action is part…

Additional authors: Robin P. Sumner and Samuel D. Harrison

On April 22 the Supreme Court held in AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC[1] that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) does not have authority under the Federal Trade Commission Act Section 13(b) to seek, nor a court to award, equitable monetary relief, such as restitution…

While the debate continues about whether the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has the authority to make rules governing antitrust or competition law issues, on March 25, Acting FTC Chair Rebecca Kelly Slaughter announced the creation of a new group focused, in part, on new rules to prohibit unfair or deceptive practices and unfair methods of…

Over the past several years, the Democratic commissioners of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have made clear their dissatisfaction with the agency’s historic treatment of pharmaceutical mergers. Now, it appears that the FTC has launched a process aimed at changing the way in which such transactions are analyzed and ultimately resolved.

Past dissenting statements…