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President Trump's antitrust enforcers recently cleared a string of multibillion-dollar deals in a week, demonstrating a willingness to settle with companies that marks a shift from the Biden administration. Here's what to know: |
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- The DOJ's Antitrust Division and the FTC cleared three deals that were together worth $63 billion in June: Mars' $36 billion takeover of Pringles maker Kellanova; Omnicom's $13.5 billion acquisition of rival Interpublic; and Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion deal to acquire Juniper Networks.
- The Mars and Omnicom deals still face regulatory review in other countries. The DOJ had sued to block the HPE deal in January, shortly after Trump took office, alleging it would harm competition in the market for wireless networking technology used by large enterprises. HPE started negotiating the deal with the DOJ on March 25.
- The move illustrates how FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson and DOJ antitrust head Gail Slater are taking a different tack from their predecessors."
- The settlements, along with a return to formally cutting short waiting periods, provide certainty to dealmakers and could smooth the path for companies like Nutella maker Ferrero, which on Thursday entered a deal to pay $3.1 billion for cereal maker WK Kellogg.
- More than 100 transactions have been granted shorter reviews since the beginning of Trump's second term, according to FTC data. The practice was suspended for most of former President Biden's term to give antitrust enforcers time to investigate.
- The moves are being watched by dealmakers, who see increasing appetite for megadeals. And they signal a potential path forward for deals such as UnitedHealth's $3.3 billion acquisition of Amedisys, which still faces a court challenge brought by the Biden administration. The DOJ and the companies are scheduled to attend mediation in the case in August.
- Jody Godoy has more on the new path forward for multibillion-dollar deals.
| - Alleged Mexican drug cartel leader Ovidio Guzman, a son of Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, is expected to plead guilty in a sprawling drug trafficking case targeting leaders of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. The plea hearing, initially scheduled for July 9, was canceled and rescheduled for today. He previously pleaded not guilty to five drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons charges in Chicago federal court.
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Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes. |
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- Senate Democrats released internal DOJ text messages and emails to corroborate claims by a whistleblower who alleged that President Trump's 3rd Circuit nominee Emil Bove suggested that department lawyers could defy court orders to carry out mass deportations. Read more here.
- The State Bar of California tried to push out a new bar exam too quickly, setting the stage for its disastrous February exam, the agency's former executive director Leah Wilson told Reuters in an interview two days after stepping down. Read more here.
- U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Jose awarded medical diagnostics company Guardant Health nearly $3 million in legal fees, after rebuking rival Natera and its attorneys at Quinn Emanuel for alleged misconduct in a lawsuit over false advertising claims. Read the order.
- A New York state judge dismissed Schulte Roth & Zabel's lawsuit against its Manhattan landlord that sought a rent abatement of more than $38 million due to COVID-19 restrictions. Read more.
- Moves: Evan Wolff left Crowell & Moring to join Akin as co-head of the firm's cybersecurity, privacy and data protection practice … Latham added congressional investigations and national security partner Vanessa Le from DLA Piper … Curtis hired Caroline Ledoux as a partner in its corporate transactions practice from EY Société d'Avocats … Much Shelist hired IP partner Patrick Richards from K&L Gates.
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That's the amount the U.S. Trustee has demanded Jackson Walker disgorge in fees awarded by former U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones, whose relationship with one of the law firm's partners threw his Houston court into turmoil when it became public, leading to his resignation two years ago. Read our latest Billable Hours. |
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"That's irreparable harm, citizenship alone. It is the greatest privilege that exists in the world."
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—U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante in New Hampshire, who barred President Trump from enforcing his executive order limiting birthright citizenship. Laplante granted class action status to a lawsuit by immigrant rights advocates representing any babies whose citizenship could be affected. Read more. |
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- At SCOTUS: On Tuesday, the justices cleared the way for the Trump administration to proceed with mass government job cuts and the downsizing of multiple agencies. On Wednesday, the court upheld a judicial block on a Republican-backed Florida law that makes it a crime for immigrants in the U.S. illegally to enter the state.
- Legal Industry: In a letter to the Texas Supreme Court, some law deans warned that dropping the requirement that Texas attorneys graduate from an ABA-accredited law school would hinder lawyer mobility and increase costs … Democratic lawmakers have requested information from acting EEOC chair Andrea Lucas regarding the agency's involvement in President Trump's efforts to pressure the U.S. legal industry … Attorneys representing consumers in antitrust lawsuits against Disney over live-streamed paid television are quarreling with each other, as the company seeks a global settlement with one law firm. In other legal industry moves, A&O Shearman hired Diego Esposito, formerly of Linklaters, as a partner for leveraged finance.
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Snell & Wilmer's Patricia Brum examines how a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling has fundamentally changed TCPA litigation. Read today's Attorney Analysis. |
Additional writing by Shruthi Krishnamurthy. |
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