Mr. Connolly is a partner at GeyerGorey in Washington, DC. His primary area of practice is antitrust, unfair competition, government investigations and antitrust compliance. Mr. Connolly has more than 30 years of experience at the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division. He joined the Antitrust Division as an Honors Attorney, was promoted to Assistant Chief of the Middle Atlantic Regional office and in 1994 was made Chief of that office, where he served until he joined DLA Piper in February 2013. During his time with DOJ, Mr. Connolly led and supervised criminal antitrust grand jury investigations in industries ranging from local construction companies to international conglomerates. These investigations led to criminal cases ranging from a conspiracy to rig bids on sewage treatment projects in Philadelphia to global price fixing cartels in industrial products. The grand jury investigations sometimes uncovered other criminal conduct such as related fraud, FCPA violations, obstruction of justice and tax matters.
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DOD Bid Rigging Whistleblower and Related Antitrust Division Criminal Cases* Last week the Antitrust Division announced that three South Korean companies had agreed to plead guilty and to enter into civil settlements for rigging bids on United States Department of Defense Fuel Supply Contracts (...)
245
DOJ and FTC Release Guidance on Antitrust Law and Employee Hiring and Compensation*In a press release issued on October 20, 2016, the Antitrust Division and the FTC issued antitrust guidance for human resource (HR) professionals and others who are involved in hiring and compensation decisions. (...)
245
Ninth Circuit’s Oral Argument on FTAIA Related Appeal* If an FTAIA related case is ever taken by the Supreme Court I believe it will be a private civil price fixing damage case like Best Buy Co., Inc. v. Hannstar Display Corporation. The Antitrust Division’s international cartel prosecutions (...)
135
China Fines 7 Shipping Companies $65 Million* Shipping cartels have been a frequent target of prosecution by the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice. The rules around shipping cartels can be confusing because certain joint pricing activity can be legal and there are (...)
93
Hong Kong Shipping Association Seeks Liner Exemption* The Hong Kong Liner Shipping Association has submitted to the Hong Kong Competition Commission for consideration a block exemption for liner shipping agreements. The HK Commission gave interested parties until March 24 to comment on the (...)
227
Antitrust Division Provides Guidance for an Effective Compliance Program* On Sept 16, 2015, The Antitrust Division announced that Kayaba Industry Co. Ltd., dba KYB Corporation (KYB) had agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $62 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix the price (...)
126
Should There Be an Antitrust Whistleblower Statute?* On July 22cd, the Senate passed the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act of 2015. The bill now goes to the House for consideration. If signed into law the Act will create for the first time whistleblower protections for employees who (...)
135
Antitrust Division Files First E-Commerce Case* David Topkins, a former executive at the E-Commerce Merchants Trade Association, an e-commerce seller of posters, prints and framed art, has agreed to plead guilty for conspiring to fix the prices of posters sold online. The one-count felony (...)
207
Indictments of Seven Japanese Executives Announced In Auto Parts Cartel Investigation* The Antitrust Division, through a federal grand jury, indicted seven Japanese executives for conspiring to fix prices in the long running auto parts investigation. There were two separate indictments. One (...)
170
Second Circuit Denies Government’s En Banc Petition in Munibonds Statute of Limitations Case* In its first Munibonds trial in 2012, the Antitrust Division convicted three former General Electric executives for rigging bids to suppress interest rates paid to municipalities on funds they raised (...)
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The Unusual Hi-Tech Hiring Collusion Case: Judge Rejects Proposed Settlement; DOJ Brought Civil “Per Se” Cases* Last Friday Judge Lucy H. Koh issued an unusual ruling in a somewhat unusual case. The ruling was unusual in that the court rejected a proposed settlement in the hi-tech wage (...)
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Seventh Circuit Panel to Rehear Motorola Mobility v. AU Optronics: A Preview of Some of the FTAIA Issues in Component International Price Fixing Cases* The Seventh Circuit has decided to rehear the appeal from a judgment dismissing nearly Motorola’s entire $3.5 billion antitrust claim against (...)
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Comcast v. Behrend: Supreme Court overturns class certification, upholds Rule 23 “rigorous analysis”* In Comcast Corp. et. al. v. Behrend, et. al., the Supreme Court of the United States, in a 5-4 decision written by Justice Antonin Scalia, reaffirmed the Court’s recent holding in Wal-Mart v. (...)
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