Competition

Expert Analysis

• Generic Drug Price Surges Don't Always Point To Collusion

  

  Since 2014, more than 10 class actions have been filed alleging price-fixing conspiracies among numerous generic drug manufacturers. However, while large price increases such as those alleged in these cases may be concerning, they could simply reflect market dynamics and do not necessarily imply any illegal behavior, say Ceren Canal Aruoba and Sally Woodhouse at Cornerstone Research.

• New Filing Rules Will Widen Germany's Merger Control Reach

  

  The planned introduction of a new size-of-transaction threshold is likely to significantly increase the number of merger notifications in Germany, thus increasing the administrative burden on parties to international M&A;, and in particular, foreign-to-foreign transactions that have limited impact in Germany, say attorneys with Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.

• Stock Prices Aren't Enough For 'Rule Of Reason' Analysis

  

  Stock market evidence should not shortcut the "rule of reason" analysis required for reverse-payment settlements in a post-Actavis world, and is far from the “smoking gun” of anti-competitive effects proclaimed by some advocates, say consultants at Analysis Group Inc.

• Improving Merger Analysis With Randomized Control Trials

  

  In this new world of “big data,” there are many instances in which antitrust practitioners may be able to do better in their ability to draw causal relationships in merger analysis by using a controlled experiment technique known as randomized control trials. It is notable that businesses and academics are already using these empirical tests, says Dr. Elizabeth Bailey of NERA Economic Consulting and University of California, Berkeley.

• How Law Firms Can Create Next-Generation Office Spaces

  

  Law firms today are recognizing that the process of creating a next-generation workplace is far more complex than relocating to a more modern space in a trendier part of town. The challenge is more significant for larger firms with multiple generations represented within their executive teams, says Tere Blanca, founder of Miami-based Blanca Commercial Real Estate Inc.

• 'Passive Investor' Lessons From Record HSR Act Settlement

  

  The record $11 million fine against ValueAct announced last week for alleged violations of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act should remind “passive investors” of the implications of communicating with executive management of companies in which they hold voting securities, says Stephen Pepper of Greenberg Traurig LLP.

• 5 Global Merger Control Developments You Need To Know

  

  The first half of 2016 featured several developments in global merger control that may impact the timing and antitrust risk of your next deal, says Jason Cruise of Latham & Watkins LLP.

• Will McDonnell Corruption Decision Save Silver And Skelos?

  

  There has been widespread speculation that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent McDonnell decision provides a means to avoid prison for two of the most prominent politicians embroiled in corruption cases — Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos. James Corsiglia of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP takes a look at whether their acts meet the new standard of “official acts” laid down in McDonnell.

• OPINION: Stop Pharma Hopping Mischief

  

  In the classic "Peanuts" gag, Charlie Brown runs full speed at the football only to fall flat on his back as Lucy pulls it away. On Thursday, the Third Circuit will hear oral arguments in Mylan v. Warner Chilcott, a product-hopping case where branded manufacturers will argue that it is OK to be Lucy, always pulling the ball away from generic manufacturers, says David Balto, a former policy director at the Federal Trade Commission.

• How To Close A Law Firm — Practically And Ethically

  

  Winding down a law firm is at best stressful, at worst excruciatingly painful, and often carried out as if it were an emergency, rendering the process even more difficult. There are certain common steps that should be on the firm's radar from the moment the decision to dissolve is made, says Janis Meyer, a partner with Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP who helped oversee Dewey & LeBoeuf's 2012 bankruptcy filing and the subsequent wind-down of the firm.