in an Uncertain Legal Environment
CD of Teleconference with Q&A
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Conducted on Thursday, February 7, 2008
Now available on CD |
In Cascade Health Solutions v. PeaceHealth, the Ninth Circuit adopted a new standard for bundled discounts and established a split between the Ninth Circuit and Third Circuit (LePage v. 3M) in analyzing bundled discounts. This leaves the treatment of bundled discounts unclear.
Like the federal appellate courts, the district courts' approaches to bundled discounts have also been inconsistent. Court decisions do not apply a consistent test to determine whether anti-competitive conduct has occurred. This further heightens the confusion for businesses.
In its April report, the Antitrust Modernization Commission noted that Sherman Act Section 2 standards are not fully developed, particularly with respect to bundling, and there is a need for additional clarity and improvement of such standards.
Listen as our panel of antitrust specialists examines the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, reviews the Third Circuit’s LePage decision, the AMC’s recommendations for bundled discounts, and implications of the PeaceHealth decision and discusses best practices for steering clear of antitrust violations.
Our panel included:
Mark J. Botti, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Washington, D.C. He has extensive experience involving the antitrust review of mergers and acquisitions. During his tenure at the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, he litigated complex antitrust claims. He served as Chief of the Litigation I Section of the Antitrust Division and litigated monopolization cases, horizontal conspiracy suits and merger challenges.
Eric J. Stock, Partner, Hogan & Hartson, New York. He concentrates on complex commercial litigation and antitrust matters, with a focus on antitrust litigation, merger investigations, RICO litigation, and commercial disputes. His litigation experience includes price-fixing or monopolization matters. He also counsels clients on structuring transactions to avoid antitrust risk.
Kenneth Glazer, Deputy Director, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D.C. He joined the FTC in 2006 as Deputy Director of the Bureau of Competition. Before joining the FTC, he was the Senior Competition Counsel for The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta. He has handled litigation, mergers and acquisitions, and international transactions, as well as intellectual property licensing, marketing and customer agreements, and sales and distribution issues.
The panel reviewed these and other key questions:
- What business conduct is permissible in offering bundled discounts?
- How does discounting a range of products put a company at risk of violating antitrust laws?
- How should price be measured in the multi-product discount context?
- What practices should defense counsel use to negotiate settlement agreements that are fair and reasonable to their clients – and avoid costly and time consuming litigation?
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TELECONFERENCE REGISTRATION FEES
Purchase a CD-ROM of the full conference proceedings, including Q&A and PDF files of all handouts (available 10 days after the program).
- Regular Price - $297 (plus $9.45 S&H)
- With Teleconference Registration – an additional $75 (plus $9.45 S&H)
CLE credit is available for an additional $65 each for attorneys seeking CLE credits for NY or CT. Other states may grant CLE credits for listening to this CD - check with your state about applying for self-study credit on CD-listening.