As spring gives way to summer, the first “green shoots” signaling the willingness of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice to credit compliance programs have emerged. For the first time ever, the Division has awarded a company sentencing credit for implementing an effective (...)

Overview In a victory for the U.S. government, the Ninth Circuit last Thursday affirmed criminal price-fixing convictions of AU Optronics, Inc. (“AUO”), a Taiwanese-based company, and two of its senior executives arising from alleged price-fixing of LCD panels. The decision, and underlying (...)

Executives Beware: The Long-Arm of the U.S. Government Strikes Again* The long-arm of the U.S. government and its increasing willingness to pursue foreign nationals for alleged violations of U.S. law was further in evidence last Friday when the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Justice Department (...)

Overview In a much-awaited decision, the Seventh Circuit has taken a broad view of the ability of U.S. courts to hear antitrust cases concerning alleged foreign cartel activity that plaintiffs contend has effects in the U.S. The Court’s ruling reviving a cartel case in the potash industry is (...)

As the world economy grows increasingly interconnected, plaintiffs’ lawyers in the US are searching for ways to sue foreign companies in US courts for anticompetitive behavior. Several recent Sherman Act cases have been brought against consortiums of partially government owned Chinese (...)

In direct response to the Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s loss in the controversial Stolt-Nielsen criminal antitrust case, the Antitrust Division revised its leniency policy. The Division has prepared revised Model Leniency Letters and issued an explanatory document entitled (...)