Jarod Bona is principal at Bona Law, based in San Diego. He focuses his practice on antitrust and competition law, appellate litigation, business litigation, and challenges to government conduct. Before starting his own law firm in March 2014, he practiced with DLA Piper US (LLP) and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP for a dozen years. Mr. Bona is a graduate of Harvard Law School and a former law clerk on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
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The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit overturned a district court decision dismissing a federal monopolization claim brought by Chase Manufacturing d/b/a Thermal Pipe Shields (TPS). In its published opinion, the Tenth Circuit held that the district court erred in granting (...)
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Observations on the Court’s Rejection of Facebook’s Motion to Dismiss the FTC’s Amended Antitrust Complaint* The FTC filed an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook (now Meta Platforms Inc.). Judge James E. Boasberg dismissed it. The FTC then filed an amended complaint. And the same judge just (...)
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This article has been nominated for the 2023 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. When you defend antitrust class actions in federal court like we do, you often see a long list of state antitrust claims brought by what are called indirect (...)
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The Federal Trade Commission and its Ability to Seek Restitution or Disgorgement Remedies* The US Supreme Court in AMG Capital Management, LLC v. Federal Trade Commission ends, at least for now, the FTC’s habit of seeking monetary damages in court as part of requests for equitable relief. (...)
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The Seventh Circuit Explains the “Co-Conspiracy Exception” to the Illinois Brick Rule in Healthcare Antitrust Lawsuit* Antitrust law evolves in such a way that opinions from federal appellate courts are always interesting in how they affect the doctrine. But there are a select few judges who (...)
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US ANTITRUST AGENCIES RELEASE UPDATED VERTICAL MERGER GUIDELINES* In big antitrust news, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Antitrust Division released a draft of an update to the 1984 Vertical Merger Guidelines (VMG) on January 10, 2020. Only three of the five FTC (...)
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This article has been nominated for the 2021 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. This is part two of an article about the Supreme Court’s 2019 decision in Apple v. Pepper, the classic antitrust cases of Illinois Brick and Hanover Shoe, (...)
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In an antitrust case deciding a non-antitrust-specific issue, the US Supreme Court held in Animal Science Products, Inc. v. Hebei Welcome Pharmaceutical Co.(the Vitamin C Antitrust Litigation) that to determine foreign law in federal courts, judges are not strictly bound by that foreign (...)
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Texas Federal Court Acts for Teladoc in Antitrust Case Against State Medical Board* It is easier to succeed in business without competition than with it. And if you are used to practicing your profession in a particular way, it is quite uncomfortable when new approaches develop that undercut (...)
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US Supreme Court Allows Appeal of Terminated Individual Case from MDL Proceeding* The US Supreme Court just issued its decision in an antitrust case called Ellen Gelboim v. Bank of America Corporation. This case arises out of major multi-district litigation (an MDL) centered on allegations (...)
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Major League Baseball, an Antitrust Exemption, and the Ninth Circuit* Baseball Antitrust ExemptionBaseball is special. How do we know that? Is it the fact that it has been declared America’s Pastime? Or is it the feelings we have when we smell the freshly cut grass on a sunny spring day? Or (...)
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The FTC Orders Ski-Equipment Companies to Start Competing Again* Sometimes competition is a real hassle. If your company has a loyal customer or longtime employee, you feel betrayed when a competitor swoops in to try to “steal them.” If you are the Miami Heat, you probably don’t like (...)
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What Does the Supreme Court’s Decision in Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc. Mean for Antitrust Law?* The defendants in Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc. failed to show the US Supreme Court the “special justification” necessary to overturn settled precedent. As we (...)
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The Virginia Board of Medicine Violated the Antitrust Laws* Last week (17-23 March 2014) was a big antitrust week for the new law firm of Bona Law PC. First, it was the ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting, where antitrust lawyers from all over the world descend upon Washington, DC to obsess over (...)
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The Antitrust Laws Encourage Stealing* That’s right, the antitrust laws care so much about competition that they even prohibit agreements among competitors to not steal. In a society that morally condemns stealing, this is counter-intuitive (and a good reason to learn a little bit about (...)
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Will the Supreme Court’s Lexmark Standing Decision Lead Indirect-Purchaser Antitrust Plaintiffs to Federal Court?* While waiting for my flight to leave San Diego on my way to Washington, DC for the ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting, I saw on Twitter—the best source for immediate Supreme Court (...)
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Applying the Antitrust Laws to Anticompetitive State and Local Government Conduct* Update: The Supreme Court granted review in North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC on March 3, 2014 Lawyers, judges, economists, law professors, policy-makers, business leaders, trade-association (...)
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Even Individual Real-Estate Investors Can Violate The Antitrust Laws* When you think about a government antitrust investigation, you probably picture monopoly accusations against large companies like Microsoft in the 90’s and early 2000’s or AT&T in the 70’s and 80’s. Or perhaps you (...)
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Challenging Class Action Certification and the Classic Antitrust Case of Comcast v. Behrend* As an attorney defending an antitrust class action, your job is to get your client out of the case as expeditiously and inexpensively as possible. There are several exit points. For example, with a (...)
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Challenging Class Action Certification and the Classic Antitrust Case of Comcast v. Behrend* As an attorney defending an antitrust class action, your job is to get your client out of the case as expeditiously and inexpensively as possible. There are several exit points. For example, with a (...)
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Some antitrust questions are easy: Is naked price-fixing among competitors a Sherman Act violation? Yes, of course it is. But there is one issue that is not only a common occurrence but also engenders great controversy among antitrust attorneys and commentators: Is price-fixing between (...)
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Classic Antitrust Cases: National Society of Professional Engineers v. United States, 435 U.S. 679 (1978)* As an antitrust attorney, over time you see the same major cases cited again and again. It is only natural that you develop favorites. Here at The Antitrust Attorney Blog, we will, from (...)
