6/28/2015 On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington D.C. blocked a proposed merger between the U.S.’s two largest food-distribution companies, U.S. Foods and Sysco. Citing antitrust concerns, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with ten state attorney generals’ offices sued the companies in February. The companies announced interest in a merger in December,
6/28/2015 Satellite Radio industry leader Sirius XM agreed on Friday to pay five record labels $210 million for the company’s use of pre-1972 recordings, potentially resolving a two-year legal battle in Los Angeles Superior Court. Due to federal copyrighting laws were not established for recordings until February 15th, 1972, separate from longstanding protections for songwriters,
6/26/2015 The U.S. Justice Department along with Michigan’s Attorney General’s office filed a lawsuit on Thursday, alleging that four Southern Michigan hospital systems violated antitrust laws by agreeing not to compete with each other. The civil suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit, claiming that the hospitals conducted a “hands-off” marketing arrangement, with each
6/26/2015 Many beer drinkers may be shocked to find that their favorite “import” beer is actually brewed in the U.S., including popular brands like Stella Artois, Red Stripe, Foster’s, and Killian’s Irish Red, among others. In fact, many of these brands are brewed by the same companies that make Budweiser, Coors, and Miller. Among these
6/25/2015 On Tuesday, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge, John Bates, upheld regulations set to begin July 1st restricting the conduct of for-profit colleges and career-training programs. The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) announced rules last fall that could potentially restrict federal funding for schools that saddle students with markedly high tuition
6/25/2015 The Supreme Court delivered the much-anticipated King vs. Burwell decision on Thursday not to strike down a key portion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare. The 6-3 decision means that enrollees in states which have not set up their own health exchanges will continue to receive federal subsidies for health insurance. Currently,
6/18/2015 Following the June 8th midnight deadline to file claims involving British Petroleum’s (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, 10 claims centers operating through the country will be closing on Friday, June 19th. The offices opened shortly after the 2012 settlement was announced, and have remained open past the claims deadline
6/18/2015 The U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled that the government acted illegally when it acquired stock during its $85 billion bailout of insurance giant, American International Group (AIG). Although a win for AIG’s former longtime CEO, Maurice R. “Hank” Greenberg, he considers it to be only a moral victory, as Judge Thomas C. Wheeler
6/17/2015 America is a land of wacky museums, including ones honoring Pez dispensers, barbed-wire, and even the Museum of Bad Art in Massachusetts, but there is no law museum despite there being myriads of museums dedicated to similarly significant professions. That is about to change, however, as legendary consumer advocate and not-so-legendary presidential candidate, Ralph
6/17/2015 Four more banks have agreed to settlements in a massive, two-year long ordeal regarding manipulation of the $5.3 trillion currency market. HSBC, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, and BNP Paribas all signed settlement agreements this week. HSBC agreed on a $285 million settlement, Barclays settled for $375 million, Goldman Sachs is finalizing an agreement estimated to