To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog:
The Department of Justice Antitrust Division (the “Division”) recently released updated guidance outlining when and how the Division will use arbitration in civil cases and merger investigations in the place of traditional litigation. The Division now encourages the use of arbitration in “appropriate” cases that would benefit from the use of such alternative dispute resolution techniques.
The Divisions Approach to Arbitration -
Historically, the Division has not used its authorization to employ alternative dispute resolution techniques, like arbitration, provided by the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996 (“ADRA”). Shortly after the ADRA became law, that same year the Division first issued regulations on the possible use of alternative dispute resolution techniques. However, the Division did not invoke its own guidance until 2019, when it used arbitration for the first time, in United States v. Novelis Inc., et al., to streamline the adjudication of a dispositive issue in a merger challenge. The updated guidance issued last month crystallizes the Division’s learning from the Novelis matter, and outlines its contemporary approach to such techniques.