Articles Posted in DOJ

Introduction The long-awaited remedy phase of United States v. Google concluded on September 2, 2025, when U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta delivered a carefully calibrated ruling following his August 2024 finding that Google illegally monopolized search. The decision stops short of breaking up the company yet aims to curtail anti-competitive behavior via behavioral constraints.…

Introduction On August 8, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a landmark proposed settlement with Greystar Management Services LLC, the largest landlord in the United States, to address allegations of anticompetitive practices in the rental housing market. This settlement targets Greystar’s use of algorithmic pricing schemes that allegedly stifled competition and drove up…

Introduction On August 7, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division, along with state co-plaintiffs from Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York, announced a proposed settlement to resolve their challenge to UnitedHealth Group Incorporated’s $3.3 billion acquisition of Amedisys Inc. This settlement, which requires the divestiture of 164 home health and hospice…

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division, under the Biden administration, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit on January 10, 2025, to block American Express Global Business Travel’s (Amex GBT) $570 million acquisition of CWT Holdings LLC. The case was dismissed by the DOJ in July 2025, just before a scheduled trial in September 2025,…

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reached a settlement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Juniper Networks on June 28, 2025, resolving concerns over HPE’s $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks. The settlement required HPE to divest its Instant On wireless networking business and license Juniper’s Mist AI software source code to independent competitors to…

Introduction Under the Biden administration, U.S. antitrust agencies, particularly the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), took a hardline stance against negotiated merger remedies. Instead of settling, they often challenged mergers outright or allowed deals to close without formal conditions, expressing doubts about the effectiveness of remedies like structural…

On April 17, 2025, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia ruled in United States et al. v. Google LLC that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The court found that Google had willfully acquired and maintained monopoly power in three key markets within open-web display advertising: publisher…

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision to challenge Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks is misguided and threatens innovation and U.S. competitiveness.  Gail Slater, the newly confirmed Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, should reconsider this decision and assess its broader implications for competition, innovation, and national interests. Facing…

McDonald’s arguments were limited because of past decision in Deslandes.  In Deslandes, the court held that the plaintiff employees plausibly alleged that the franchises’ no-poach restraints could be found unlawful under a quick-look analysis so McDonald’s did not move to dismiss for failure to state a claim.  The Northern District court rejected McDonald’s argument that the…

The Department of Justice this week concluded an arbitration that will resolve a civil antitrust lawsuit challenging Novelis Inc.’s proposed acquisition of Aleris Corporation. The lawsuit seeks to preserve competition in the North American market for rolled aluminum sheet for automotive applications, commonly referred to as aluminum auto body sheet.  This marks the first time…