On June 6, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken approved a proposed settlement agreement [VZ1] between the National Collegiate Athletics Association (“NCAA”), the Power Five Conferences and student athletes, effectively paving the way for name, likeness, and image (“NIL”) compensation for student athletes.[1] The approval comes nearly five years after student athletes filed the class action lawsuit for alleged violations of the Sherman Act related
Read More Settled Yet Uncertain: Final Approval of NCAA NIL Settlement Opens Doors to More Antitrust ChallengesFederal Judge Allows FTC’s Robinson-Patman Act Suit Against Southern Glazers Wine and Spirits to Continue Beyond Motion to Dismiss Stage
The Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) first Robinson-Patman Act (“RPA”) suit in decades has survived a motion to dismiss. The Honorable Fred W. Slaughter in the United States District Court for the Central District of California ruled on the papers that the FTC’s Complaint against Southern Glazers Wine and Spirits, LLC (“Southern”) “sufficiently alleges” a claim that Southern has engaged in price discrimination that injures competition among its customers, a secondary-line discrimination claim, as detailed below.[1]
As we summarized in a prior advisory (available here), two years ago, during the Biden administration’s tenure, the FTC announced its intention to ramp up enforcement of the RPA, a Great Depression era anti-price discrimination law, after decades of non-enforcement. The RPA forbids a seller of goods from engaging in price discrimination between two or more different purchasers. The rationale for the RPA was that preventing such price discrimination would enable smaller companies to compete with larger businesses.Read More Federal Judge Allows FTC’s Robinson-Patman Act Suit Against Southern Glazers Wine and Spirits to Continue Beyond Motion to Dismiss Stage
Antitrust Insights: A Conversation with Robert M. Langer
On April 24, 2025, Senior Counsel Robert M. Langer will participate in a webinar hosted by the American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section. Bob will share insights on key legal precedents, multistate enforcement, and the role of state attorneys general. Participants will gain valuable perspectives on past and current trends shaping competition law.
A Senior Counsel at Wiggin and Dana, Bob Langer has represented clients
Read More Antitrust Insights: A Conversation with Robert M. LangerImportant New Guidance — How an Effective Antitrust Compliance Program Could Prevent Criminal Charges Against Your Company
On July 11, 2019, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice published an advisory concerning corporate compliance programs and announced a new approach to criminal charging decisions against companies.[i] Specifically, the advisory states that consideration of a company’s antitrust compliance program can serve as a critical factor in deciding whether to pursue criminal charges against a company. In other words, the
Read More Important New Guidance — How an Effective Antitrust Compliance Program Could Prevent Criminal Charges Against Your Company