The Rise of Labor Issues as an Antitrust Priority

Maryanne Magnier and I have drafted an article titled, “The Rise of Labor Issues as an Antitrust Priority.” The article will soon appear in the Emory Corporate Governance and Accountability Review's special symposium issue titled “The Antitrust Revolution: The Rise of Enforcement and Its Effect on Corporate Law.” 

Our article discusses the trend toward increased antitrust enforcement in the labor market from both the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, as well as a growing number of Sherman Act claims by private plaintiffs. The Biden administration announced labor as a priority, and this article describes the many ways that has come to fruition, including proposed HSR Amendments, the 2023 Merger Guidelines, the Agencies’ litigation priorities (both civil and criminal), and ongoing private actions.  This rise in labor antitrust enforcement will doubtlessly affect transactional, labor and corporate lawyers, and businesspeople outside the antitrust sphere.

We will present this paper during a live stream on April 3, 2024 from 2:20-2:50 pm. Click here to register for the live stream. 

We are delighted to present alongside many esteemed antitrust practitioners:

Matthew Kent – Alston & Bird: Negotiating for Certainty in an Uncertain World 

Francesca Pisano – Arnold & Porter: Antitrust, Labor Markets, and Issue-Spotting DEI Initiatives 

Meredith Mommers & Angela Landry – Freshfields: The FTC & DOJ’s New Merger Guidelines: A New Path or More of the Same? 

Nathan Mendelsohn - Wilson Sonsini: When Can an Agreement On Environmental Policies Comply with US Antitrust Laws 

Lohr Beck & Carley Thompson – King & Spalding: Federal Enforcers Signal Heightened Scrutiny of Algorithm Use to Inform Pricing Decisions 

Joshua Shapiro - Eversheds Sutherland: The End of Remedies?

The symposium will also have presentations by two noted academics: 

Professor D. Daniel Sokol – University of Southern California School of Law: Economics and Antitrust – An analysis of the economic effect of the Biden administration’s antitrust policies and enforcement actions.

Professor John Newman - University of Miami School of Law: Professor Newman is this year’s keynote speaker. Professor Newman is an expert on antitrust and competition law, with a primary focus on the economics and regulation of digital markets. He has served with both the Federal Trade Commission (as Deputy Director of the Bureau of Competition) and the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (as trial attorney). During his keynote address Professor Newman will give an overview of the current state of antitrust enforcement.