Antitrust & Competition

This article explores the economic dynamics and competition issues within the fast-advancing Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) industry. Generative AI, encompassing hardware, models, and applications, has seen rapid growth across sectors, offering potential for efficiency gains and innovation.

“Dark patterns” is a term used to describe potentially deceptive app or website designs that could manipulate consumers to make choices they would otherwise not make.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers introduce new and improved versions of drugs as part of their research and development strategy. However, concerns about antitrust violations are raised when manufacturers are alleged to use anticompetitive tactics to stifle generic competition.

In the last year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken several actions to challenge patents listed in the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Orange Book.

Edgeworth experts Dr. George Korenko and Dr. Tram Nguyen describe FTC actions and recent court decisions and how they affect the recent state of economic analysis of antitrust impact for these alleged patent practices in the pharmaceutical industry.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) are continually focused on investigating the impact of consolidation in healthcare. More recently, the agencies have expressed a renewed interest in for-profit medicine.

Edgeworth experts Matt Milner, Sophie Meadows, Ashley Zhou, and Monica Zhong highlight the importance of economic analysis in assessing competitive harm in data-focused industries in the Global Competition Review Data and Antitrust Guide.

The ABA Antitrust Section’s 2024 Spring Meeting panel “Failure to Communicate? Improving Expert Testimony” provided a lively discussion about the evolving role of the expert witness, what makes an effective expert witness, and changing trends in trial procedure that may help streamline expert testimony.

In this piece published in the CPI Antitrust Chronicle, Edgeworth experts Tram Nguyen and Connor Moynihan review recent criminal antitrust cases involving expert witness testimony to highlight the types of economic analyses that were utilized in these matters and discuss the likely increase in reliance on expert economic testimony in the future.

In this article, Dr. George Korenko and Dr. Tram Nguyen identify dimensions along which, over aggregation and averaging, likely lead to findings of uninjured class members.

In this Bloomberg Law article, Edgeworth Partner Dr. George Korenko and Mary Gately, Partner at DLA Piper, discuss from a legal and economic perspective the issue of breach of contract damages arising during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this Law360 article, Edgeworth Partners Dr. George Korenko and Matthew Milner provide a primer on the economics of class certification and discuss the application of economics to price gouging class actions.

In this article, published in Law360, Edgeworth Partner Dr. George Korenko and Principal Consultant Dr. Tram Nguyen discuss three key issues cited in the Court of Appeals opinion and their implications for the economic analysis of predominance in the Lamictal case and in other pay-for-delay litigations.

As COVID-19 spreads throughout the country, it is especially important unscrupulous sellers do not take advantage of Americans by selling products at unconscionable prices. Dr. John H. Johnson, Dr. George Korenko, and Matthew Milner describe various concepts used when identifying appropriate benchmarks and comparators in an assessment of price gouging.

Dr. George Korenko and Matthew Milner provide 10 best practices to help practitioners overcome the hurdles of gathering detailed data in antitrust cases and make the process more cost efficient and effective for litigation.

Edgeworth Partners Dr. George Korenko and Matthew Milner build on their previously published best practices for managing data in antitrust cases, and discuss the additional considerations that become relevant when the data involves financial products.

In anticipation of future civil class actions related to no-poach and wage-fixing agreements, Edgeworth Partners Dr. Stephen Bronars and Dr. Deborah Foster have published a two-part primer in Law360 on wage analyses that are frequently used in employment discrimination cases and will become increasingly relevant as labor issues cross over into the antitrust arena.

In anticipation of future civil class actions related to no-poach and wage-fixing agreements, Edgeworth Partners Dr. Stephen Bronars and Dr. Deborah Foster have published a two-part primer in Law360 on wage analyses that are frequently used in employment discrimination cases and will become increasingly relevant as labor issues cross over into the antitrust arena.

Dr. George Korenko and Matthew Milner offer strategies for attorneys and experts collecting and preparing data for antitrust cases.

Edgeworth Partner Michael Kheyfets co-authored an article in Bloomberg Law's Privacy & Security Law Report.

In "Turning Daubert on its Head: Efforts to Banish Hypothesis Testing in Antitrust Class Actions," Edgeworth CEO Dr. John Johnson, with Former Partners  Dr. Laila Haider and Dr. Gregory Leonard discuss the recent attempts by plaintiffs to exclude expert evidence and opinions offered by defendants' expert economists with the argument that the experts’ statistical testing of plaintiffs’ proposed methodology does not satisfy the Daubert standard for the admissibility of expert testimony. 

Dr. Jesse David gives an economic perspective of food labeling cases by discussing the “predominance” requirement for class certification.

Dr. John Johnson with Former Partner Dr. Laila Haider discuss the role of rigorous analysis in the U.S. Supreme Court’s most recent antitrust ruling in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend.

Dr. John H. Johnson and Dr. Gregory Leonard discuss the empirical analyses used to determine class certification issues in Rigorous Analysis of Class Certification Comes of Age, published by the ABA’s Antitrust Law Journal.

This article examines recent class actions, including a review of the issues that affect economic analysis as it relates to antitrust matters.

Matthew Milner opined on the reliability of structured data in litigation, writing “Structured data is frequently the foundation of expert analysis in litigation for a variety of damages and liability issues."

This article explores the economic dynamics and competition issues within the fast-advancing Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) industry. Generative AI, encompassing hardware, models, and applications, has seen rapid growth across sectors, offering potential for efficiency gains and innovation.

In class action litigation, a court’s decision as to whether a particular class should be certified turns, in part, on the question of predominance. In antitrust class actions in particular, the predominance assessment relies heavily on economic analysis.

At the 72nd ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting panel “The Price is Right (Or Is It?),” panelists discussed concerns related to “dark patterns,” specifically focusing on pricing and disclosure practices such as “junk fees,” automatic renewals, and negative options.

The use of economic analysis as a tool to assess issues in per se criminal antitrust violations has been a source of debate.

On November 9, 2023, the American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section held its annual Fall Forum focused on the theme “Can Antitrust and Consumer Protection Keep Up with Artificial Intelligence (AI)?” This exciting program brought together computer scientists performing cutting-edge AI research, policymakers considering proper legislation for regulating these new technologies, and practitioners navigating the implications of this changing legal landscape in the scope of antitrust, privacy, and consumer protection.

The relevant economic issues in antitrust class action cases that involve indirect purchasers— class members who did not purchase the product at issue directly from one of the defendants, but instead from another seller further down the supply chain—are often complex and idiosyncratic to each specific industry.

Regression analysis is a statistical tool used by economists, statisticians, and others to “understand the relationship between or among two or more variables.”  Any attorney new to the antitrust space will invariably encounter regression analysis frequently. In this article, we provide a brief introduction to the regression methodology.

When pharmaceutical manufacturers develop a new branded drug to take to market, they are granted a period of exclusivity via patent to help recoup the massive costs of research and development. Upon expiration of this patent, generic manufacturers can enter the market with therapeutically equivalent products and compete with the brand.

On March 7th, the Treasury Department released a draft report entitled “The State of Labor Market Competition” (herein “the report” or “the Treasury”), which addressed the level of concentration and anti-competitive labor practices in the U.S. economy. The report claimed to reaffirm the current administration’s executive orders regarding promoting competition in labor markets and examines possible implications.

What are the legal and practical issues involved in introducing economic evidence in a criminal antitrust trial?

A panel of distinguished thought leaders, including Edgeworth Principal Tram Nguyen, provide the audience with an in-depth discussion of the trends, developments, and critical issues surrounding pharmaceutical antitrust matters. 

Edgeworth Partner Michael Kheyfets will join a panel of thought leaders to provide an in-depth analysis of the recent developments in antitrust class certification in this Knowledge Group webcast.

Edgeworth Economics will host the Antitrust Economics Workshop, to be held in advance of the 47th Annual Conference on International Antitrust Law

Edgeworth Managing Principal Sophie Meadows will participate in this live webcast, hosted by The Knowledge Group, in which she will join fellow panelists to provide an in-depth analysis of the recent trends and developments on antitrust class certification and the associated economic issues. The panel will also offer best practices to help practitioners amid the changing legal landscape.

This program will provide an overview of techniques for assessing market power, including both direct evidence and indirect evidence approaches.

Edgeworth CEO Dr. John H. Johnson will speak at the 68th Annual ABA Antitrust Law Virtual Spring Meeting. Dr. Johnson will speak on the panel, “Apples & Economics: Is Illinois Brick Obsolete?” 

Michael Kheyfets will participate in a live webcast where he will provide an in-depth analysis on the economic issues relating to modeling damages in indirect purchaser class actions.

Edgeworth will co-host the Antitrust Economics Workshop held in advance of the 46th Annual Conference on International Antitrust Law and Policy, hosted by Fordham's Competition Law Institute.

Edgeworth Economics is a proud sponsor of the 2019 CBA Competition Law Spring Conference. 

In this webcast, Dr. George Korenko will join other thought leaders to present on antitrust litigation and regulatory trends, their implications on the life sciences industry, and best practices for compliance. 

In this webcast, Edgeworth Principal Consultant Dr. David Colino will join a panel of thought leaders and practitioners to discuss the current trends and issues in reverse payment settlements.

Dr. John Johnson and his fellow panelists will discuss post-Actavis lower-court decisions that have shed contradictory views, probing issues such as expected litigation costs, expected profits from continued sales, and the value of contemporaneous business transactions.

Principal Consultant Sophie Meadows will provide examples from recent cases to describe the use of large-scale data in the economic analysis of antitrust issues and how this relates to data discovery.

In this CLE webinar, Dr. Jesse David and his fellow panelists will review the Comcast Corp. v. Behrend decision and the requirement that plaintiffs demonstrate predominance that must measure only those damages connected to the plaintiffs’ theory of liability.

Dr. Stephen Bronars will speak on a panel examining the use of proposed new HMDA data fields in empirical analyses.

In this live webcast, Dr. Jesse David will speak on a panel discussing recent trends in the use of survey evidence in advertising cases.

Join Drs. Xiaoling Ang and Stephen Bronars for an ABA webinar discussing how provisions of the CFPB's proposed payday loan rule are likely to affect both consumers and payday lenders.

ACI will host its annual National Forum on Employment Discrimination Litigation, where Dr. Stephen Bronars will discuss economic damages and statistical issues in employment discrimination cases.

In this two-hour live webcast, hosted by The Knowledge Group, Dr. Deborah Foster will serve on a panel of seasoned leaders and professionals who will help the audience understand the most important aspects of Wage and Hour Class Actions. 

Dr. Foster will present on "The Latest on the New WhiteCollar Exemption Overtime Regulations: Analyzing the Practical Implications of the New Rules, Strategies for Minimizing Litigation Risks, and Defending Against Claims of Violation Once Litigation is Brought."

Edgeworth Economics Partner Michael Kheyfets will moderate a panel of economists who will teach basic economic principles related to antitrust analysis.

CLE International will host its inaugural two-day Food Law Conference in Washington, DC. Principal Consultant Sushrut Jain will participate in a panel discussion on food law class actions and damages valuations.

Edgeworth partner Michael Kheyfets will speak on a panel with other experts and attorneys a Webinar on big data in litigation.

Matthew Milner and Michael Kheyfets of Edgeworth Economics and Jeff Landis of ZwillGen PLLC will present a mock case to examine the elements and potential theories of harm in data breach litigation.

Edgeworth experts will host a mock trial at the IAPP Global Privacy Summit.

Dr. John Johnson will speak at the ACI Cyber Security & Data Privacy and Protection Conference.

Chuck Fields and Michael Kheyfets will speak about Edgeworth's experience in HR analytics and data consulting at the IQPC 12th HR Metrics & Analytics Summit.

Edgeworth Economics debuts The Antitrust Prescription, the firm’s new blog that covers antitrust and other economic issues affecting companies in the pharmaceutical industry.

Edgeworth Economics has again been named as a top competition economic consultancy by GCR in its 2021 publication of the Economics 21. 

Who’s Who Legal, a Law Business Research publication, has featured Dr. Jesse David, Dr. John Johnson, Michael Kheyfets, and Dr. George Korenko in its 2020 listing of the most highly regarded competition economics practitioners.

In Edgeworth’s first decade, the firm has become one of the world’s leading economic consultancies, distinguished at the forefront of antitrust, class certification, intellectual property, and labor and employment, in North America and China.

A total of seven Edgeworth experts have been featured in Who's Who Legal as leading competition economists. 

Edgeworth Economics has been recognized for another consecutive year by Global Competition Review in its annual publication of the Economics 20.

Dr. John Johnson, Dr. Gregory Leonard, and Dr. Fei Deng have been named to the Who's Who Legal 2018 listings of the most highly regarded competition economics practitioners. Dr. Johnson and Dr. Leonard were again named top economists, while Dr. Deng was again identified as a future leader in the space.

Edgeworth Economics has again been listed as a top competition economic consultancy by Global Competition Review in its annual publication of the Economics 20.

Dr. John Johnson, Dr. Gregory Leonard, and Dr. Fei Deng have been named to Who's Who Legal's 2017 listings of the most highly regarded competition economics practitioners.

At the Concurrences Antitrust Writing Awards, Edgeworth CEO Dr. John Johnson identifies three major antitrust trends in 2017.

Global Competition Review has recognized Edgeworth Economics as a leading competition economic consultancy.

An Edgeworth antitrust article was shortlisted in the Academic and Business categories of the 2017 Antitrust Writing Awards.

Dr. John Johnson and Michael Kheyfets completed an analysis on behalf of Etihad Airways, which demonstrated that services introduced by Etihad have increased competition and consumer choice.

Global Competition Review has named Edgeworth a top antitrust and competition economics firm.

Edgeworth Economics, today announced that Michael Kheyfets has been promoted to Partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office.

Dr. Jesse David will be a panelist in an ABA Antitrust Section program on the legal and economic arguments behind Abraham & Veneklasen Joint Venture, et al. v. American Quarter Horse Association, et al.

Edgeworth CEO Dr. John Johnson, with Dr. Gregory Leonard and Dr. Laila Haider, demonstrate the use of econometric methods to address issues related to the viability of class-wide damages.

Edgeworth Economics extends a warm congratulations to Dr. John Johnson on being selected as a finalist for Global Competition Review’s  2012 Economist of The Year.

Washington, DC – Edgeworth Economics LLC is pleased to announce that Dr. George Korenko, an expert economist, has joined the firm. 

Edgeworth Economics LLC, a boutique economic consulting firm, is pleased to announce the promotion of Mr. Chuck Fields to Senior Vice President.

Washington, D.C. – Edgeworth Economics client, Reddy Ice, Inc., was accused of allocating territories in the packaged ice industry.  Dr. John Johnson was retained by Reddy Ice to submit an expert report before the Superior Court of Justice in Ontario, Canada regarding the appropriateness of class-wide treatment.  Dr. Johnson concluded that determining the fact of antitrust injury for each member of the proposed class would require individualized analysis and further that a formulaic approach to damages, using class-wide evidence, would fail to provide accurate measures of harm.  The plaintiffs settled with Reddy Ice’s co-defendant, Arctic Glacier, subsequent to the filing of Dr. Johnson’s report.  Reddy Ice made no payment and received a full release from the plaintiffs.  See Reddy Ice’s quarterly report for additional details.  

Edgeworth President John H. Johnson and Senior Vice President Jesse David, along with economist Paul Torelli, discuss the unique circumstances surrounding antitrust cases that target labor markets.

Washington, D.C. - In the most recent issue of the ABA’s Antitrust Practitioner, Edgeworth experts Dr. John Johnson, Mr. Boris Vabson, and Mr. Matthew Milner discuss the impact of the Third Circuit’s In re Hydrogen Peroxide decision on ongoing as well as prospective class certification proceedings.

Dr. Jesse David conducted a seminar at Arnold & Porter in Los Angeles. Dr. David’s talk covered an increasingly common form of litigation – antitrust counterclaims against a patent holder suing for infringement.

Washington, D.C. - Edgeworth Economics is pleased to announce that Dr. John Johnson has been appointed an Assistant Editor of the Antitrust Law Journal for the 2010-2011 ABA year.

In the last year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken several actions to challenge patents listed in the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Orange Book.

Edgeworth experts Dr. George Korenko and Dr. Tram Nguyen describe FTC actions and recent court decisions and how they affect the recent state of economic analysis of antitrust impact for these alleged patent practices in the pharmaceutical industry.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) are continually focused on investigating the impact of consolidation in healthcare. More recently, the agencies have expressed a renewed interest in for-profit medicine.

In the latest article for The Antritrust Prescription, Edgeworth Managing Principal Dr. Ashley Zhou examines recent enforcement concerning the listing of patents in the FDA's Orange Book and potential economic implications of new enforcement efforts.

In this new article for The Antitrust Prescription, our pharmaceutical economics team discusses Amgen’s proposed acquisition of Horizon and the FTC’s broader approach to challenging conduct under Section 5 of the FTC Act.