Michelle Lowery
Subscribe to Michelle Lowery's PostsMichelle Lowery is the go-to litigator for West Coast state and federal antitrust and unfair competition matters and for California Attorney General antitrust and general litigation matters. She has nearly two decades of experience achieving exceptional results for clients in antitrust and unfair competition litigation and investigations, including class actions. Read Michelle Lowery's full bio.
Close Scrutiny for Class Settlements Where Plaintiff Attorneys Take Lion’s Share
By Nicole Castle, Michelle Lowery, Matt Evola, Stephen Wu and McDermott Will & Emery on Jan 27, 2020
Posted In Cartel Enforcement, Private Litigation
Two recent US antitrust class action settlements drew additional scrutiny from federal judges, showing that the allocation of settlement funds between a proposed class and their attorneys will be carefully reviewed for fairness to class members.
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THE LATEST: California Jury Rejects Robinson-Patman Act Claim Against 5-hour Energy Maker
By Matt Evola, Michelle Lowery and Stephen Wu on Oct 28, 2019
Posted In Distribution/Franchising
Family-owned wholesalers brought a Robinson-Patman claim against the maker of 5-hour Energy alleging discounts given to Costco amounted to illegal price discrimination. A jury in California rejected the claim after a fact-intensive analysis of competition and potential antitrust injury. WHAT HAPPENED: After seven hours of deliberations, a California jury decided that Living Essentials LLC, the...
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THE LATEST: Hollywood Writers Guild and Talent Agencies Entangled in Labor/Antitrust Lawsuits and Countersuits
By McDermott Will & Emery and Michelle Lowery on Oct 14, 2019
Posted In Private Litigation
A Hollywood union’s recent amendments to its union rules has sparked federal antitrust lawsuits by talent agencies. The Writers Guild of America (WGA), a labor union and the exclusive collective bargaining representative for writers in the entertainment industry, recently instituted new rules that prohibit its members from dealing with talent agencies that do not adopt...
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Recent Indictments Demonstrate Increased Focus on Bid-Rigging in Government Procurements
By Joshua W. Eastby, James W. Kim, Michelle Lowery and Stephen Wu on Jun 6, 2019
Posted In Cartel Enforcement, DOJ Developments
Companies involved in the government contracting industry should take note that the government is honing in on anticompetitive conduct affecting government procurements. The federal government has demonstrated an increased interest in this area, and companies should refresh and audit their compliance programs to avoid hefty civil and criminal penalties and potential prison terms for implicated...
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THE LATEST: DOJ Announces Settlement with Carolinas Health System (Atrium Health) After Two Years of Litigation
By Stephen Wu, Michelle Lowery, Ashley Fischer and McDermott Will & Emery on Nov 20, 2018
Posted In DOJ Developments, Healthcare Antitrust, Monopolization/Abuse of Dominance
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced last week that it and the State of North Carolina have reached a settlement with Carolinas Healthcare System / Atrium Health relating to provisions in contracts between the health system and commercial insurers that allegedly restrict payors from “steering” their enrollees to lower-cost hospitals. The settlement comes after two...
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ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting Highlight: “Antitrust & Health Care: Square Peg in a Round Hole?”
By Michelle Lowery on Apr 30, 2015
Posted In FTC Developments, Healthcare Antitrust, Mergers & Acquisitions
In this month’s American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law Spring Meeting, the program “Antitrust & Health Care: Square Peg in a Round Hole?” featured debate and discussion about antitrust law treatment of health care transactions and how that treatment might (or should) evolve (via regulation, legislation, or some combination of approaches), or conversely,...
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Ninth Circuit Affirms Divestiture of Consummated Physician Practice Acquisition
By Ashley Fischer, Daniel Powers and Michelle Lowery on Mar 2, 2015
Posted In FTC Developments, Healthcare Antitrust
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed an Idaho federal district court’s decision ordering the divestiture of a physician practice group that had been acquired by a competing health system. The case, which pitted the health system against private plaintiffs as well as the Federal Trade Commission and the state attorney general,...
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DOJ Issues First Business Review Letter Following Agencies’ Joint Policy Statements on Cybersecurity
By Michelle Lowery on Oct 28, 2014
Posted In DOJ Developments, FTC Developments
On October 2, 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued its first business review letter since issuing jointly with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the Agencies’ Antitrust Policy Statement on Sharing of Cybersecurity Information in April 2014 (the Policy Statement). The Policy Statement recognized that sharing cyber threat information is integral to defending against...
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Chinese Magnesite Producers Antitrust Class Action Complaint Dismissed
By Michelle Lowery on Jul 30, 2014
Posted In Chinese Developments, Energy/Commodities, Private Litigation
On July 24, 2014, the district court in Animal Sci. Prod., Inc. et al. v. China Nat’l Metals & Minerals Imp. and Exp. Corp. et al., Case No. 2:05-cv-04376 (D.N.J.), dismissed direct purchaser plaintiff’s Amended Complaint without prejudice in favor of magnesite producers accused of engaging in a price fixing scheme for magnesite and magnesite...
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Perspectives from the Federal Antitrust Enforcement Agencies
By Ashley Fischer, Michelle Lowery and Stephen Wu on May 20, 2014
Posted In DOJ Developments, FTC Developments, Healthcare Antitrust
At the recent Antitrust in Health Care conference in Arlington, Virginia, representatives from the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division discussed important health care and antitrust topics. Speakers stressed that the Affordable Care Act is not an opportunity for anticompetitive consolidation and conduct. Providers and payers alike should continue to analyze...
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