Stay updated with breaking news from Stores Co. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
Excessive fee lawsuit activity has ramped up with no major decisions by the courts; however, a pending decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in one case could impact the amount of activity going forward.
Tuesday, March 2, 2021 The recent decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Steves & Sons, Inc. v. JELD-WEN, Inc., 2021 WL 630521 (4th Cir. Feb. 18, 2021), is noteworthy for its affirmance of the trial court’s unusual grant of the equitable remedy of divestiture in a private antitrust suit brought by a customer challenging a merger of competing suppliers. That challenge was brought under Section 16 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 26, and followed a merger consummated four years before the plaintiff’s complaint. While divestiture is a commonly sought ...
remedy in equity was warranted considering the balance of hardships between plaintiff and defendant; and the public interest would not be disserved by a permanent injunction. The court held that the first two factors were satisfied following testimony that Steves would likely go out of business by September 2021 without equitable relief. As to the third factor, the court held that the threat to Steves’s survival outweighed Jeld-Wen’s hardships, which could be mitigated by ordering the divested entity to sell Jeld-Wen as many doorskins as needed for two years. Finally, the court conc...
Thursday, February 25, 2021 Federal antitrust enforcers have long succeeded at unwinding consummated mergers. 1 By contrast, private antitrust plaintiffs have not successfully forced companies to break up a completed acquisition. Until now. On February 18, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a historic decision in Steves and Sons, Inc. v. JELD-WEN, Inc., affirming a district court’s remedy of divestiture after a jury found a violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act in the door manufacturing industry. To the Fourth Circuit’s knowledge (and the cons...