Jason Dubner serves as editor of ABA Antitrust Committee Newsletter

Jason Dubner served as the editor of the American Bar Association’s Section of Antitrust Compliance and Ethics Spotlight Spring 2016 newsletter. The Spring 2016 newsletter includes a variety of pieces that will help guide clients confronting ethical and compliance-related antitrust issues in the day-to-day operation of their business.  http://connect.abaantitrust.org/home

Verity Doyle and John Eichlin open this issue of the Spotlight by continuing our evaluation of the degree to which there may be a trend in the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (and around the world) towards rewarding those companies that institute effective compliance programs when regulators are determining the appropriate punishment for discovered violations. Ms. Doyle and Mr. Eichlin’s article includes a useful table, at pages 6-9 of the Spotlight, setting out an overview of the approaches to this issue followed by 18 key global enforcement authorities.  Next, Dorothy Gill Raymond reviews the issues discussed by an international panel in November 2015 on the state of the in-house attorney-client privilege.  Ms. Raymond explains how the program provided participants with a better understanding of the differences among jurisdictions to help attorneys maintain privilege protection, manage potential differences, and prevent surprises for themselves and their clients.  Denes Rothschild follows with a summary of the January 2016 teleconference regarding cross-border compliance considerations in the context of merger due diligence.  Mr. Rothschild reviews the issue of pre-merger “gun-jumping,” as well as how these panelists addressed the issue of maintaining confidentiality and privilege in the M&A context.  Finally, Tom Lang’s piece summarizes the February 2016 panel discussion centering on the issue of “Competitive Intelligence.”  Mr. Lang uses a Q&A format to review how the panelists defined CI and the safeguards they employ in the course of working to assure that it is collected legally and ethically.