Mergers, Algorithms and Market Power: Highlights from the ABA Spring Meeting 2026

The ABA 2026 Antitrust Spring Meeting gathered antitrust lawyers and practitioners – some 3,500 of them – for 70 panels in Washington, D.C. Host Bill Batchelor reports back along with Skadden antitrust/competition partners Evan Kreiner and Aurora Luoma. Drawing out the central themes from the conference, they cover the latest in merger control — from the CMA's "4 Ps" framework to the EU's revised guidelines and the fate of the FTC's expanded HSR form — as well as cartel enforcement trends including AI-driven investigations and algorithmic pricing, and notable market power developments in digital regulation and social media.💡 Meet Your Host 💡Name: Bill BatchelorTitle: Partner, Antitrust/CompetitionSpecialty: Bill has 20 years of EU and U.K. competition law experience and focuses his practice on investigations, including abuse of dominance, cartels and vertical agreements.Connect: LinkedIn💡 Featured Guests 💡Name: Aurora LuomaWhat she does: Aurora covers competition law, including international merger control, antitrust investigations, state aid and sectoral regulation. She is based in London.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: “The UK CMA has been rapidly shifting its approach to merger control enforcement in the past 18 months or so. What we heard at the ABA conference was a continued emphasis from the CMA officials on its shift to what it calls its "4 Ps" framework. So, that's greater predictability, pace, process and proportionality in merger review.”Connect: LinkedInName: Evan KreinerWhat he does: Evan is an experienced litigator in high-stakes antitrust trials against government regulators and private plaintiffs. He is based in New York.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: "On the substance, people were quite interested in Judge Boasberg's evaluation and analysis, both the market that Instagram and Facebook – Meta's products that were challenged by the FTC – participate in, as well as how Judge Boasberg considered whether or not Instagram and Facebook have market power. So, market definition in that case was hotly contested.”Connect: LinkedInConnect with Skadden☑️ Follow us on X and LinkedIn.☑️ Subscribe to “Fierce Competition” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.“Fierce Competition” is a podcast by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Affiliates. This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This podcast is considered advertising under applicable state laws.

AI dominates headlines from both a deal and antitrust enforcement perspective. Antoni Terra, counsel in Skadden's Brussels office, moderates a discussion on recent developments and trends across Europe and the U.S. in the AI space with colleagues Mike Menitove, partner in Skadden's New York office, and Iacovos Antoniou, European counsel in Skadden's London office. The panel explores key merger control issues, the EU Digital Markets Act and U.K. Digital Markets Competition and Consumers Act, and ongoing litigation such as the U.S. Department of Justice’s challenge to Google's search business.💡 Meet Your Host 💡Name: Antoni TerraTitle: Counsel, Antitrust/CompetitionSpecialty: Antoni’s practice focuses on complex merger control matters requiring EU, U.K. and international approvals.Connect: LinkedIn💡 Featured Guests 💡Name: Mike MenitoveWhat he does: Mike represents clients in antitrust and complex litigation matters across a broad range of industries, including health care, agriculture, technology and sports, among others.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: “U.S. regulators have expressed concerns about resources, inputs and the scale needed to compete in the generative AI space.”Connect: LinkedInName: Iacovos AntoniouWhat he does: Iacovos advises on all aspects of EU, U.K. and international competition law, including merger control, antitrust investigations and compliance with Articles 101 and 102 TFEU.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: “Competition enforcement in the AI space is here to stay and potentially become more prevalent. So, it's definitely a good time to zoom in on competition principles and understand the regulatory direction.”Connect: LinkedInConnect with Skadden☑️ Follow us on X and LinkedIn.☑️ Subscribe to Fierce Competition on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.Fierce Competition is a podcast by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Affiliates. This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This podcast is considered advertising under applicable state laws.

Gone are the days when companies could simply agree with a handshake not to poach each other's IT staff. Today, violations in the labor market are receiving heightened scrutiny and are being addressed with greater severity. Host Bill Batchelor is joined by three Skadden colleagues to discuss the rapidly evolving enforcement landscape. Jim Fredricks, antitrust/competition partner in Washington, D.C., breaks down the U.S. prosecution strategy. Aurora Luoma, antitrust/competition partner in London, and Margot Sève, white collar defense and investigations partner in Paris, describe the environment in Europe. Tune in for valuable insights on why it is essential for clients to address labor law issues within their compliance programs.💡 Meet Your Host 💡Name: Bill BatchelorTitle: Partner, Antitrust/CompetitionSpecialty: Bill has 20 years of EU and U.K. competition law experience and focuses his practice on investigations, including abuse of dominance, cartels and vertical agreements. Connect: LinkedIn💡 Featured Guests 💡Name: Aurora LuomaWhat she does: Aurora has a broad practice covering key areas of competition law, including international merger control, antitrust investigations, state aid and sectoral regulation. She particularly focuses on complex global mergers in the EU and U.K.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: “We've seen the U.K. competition authority make statements that tie in enforcement in the labor market to wider policy priorities. So, in a recent speech, the CMA’s chief executive, Sarah Cardell, emphasized that well-functioning labor markets are widely recognized as an important driver of economic growth.”Connect: LinkedInName: Jim FredricksWhat he does: Drawing on over two decades of experience as an antitrust prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice, Jim counsels and defends clients in all types of antitrust investigations and prosecutions, as well as other complex and multijurisdictional actions brought by government enforcers, including price fixing, bid rigging, market allocations, no-poach agreements, algorithmic pricing and criminal monopolization.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: “The United States is very clear in its position that wage fixing, no-poach are irredeemable in the same way as price fixing and customer allocations. And so, the per se rule applies, which means, as a matter of law, it's unlawful regardless of any justification that the participants may offer or whether there is any harm or not. And there's been some skirmishing on that issue, and DOJ has mostly won, but not completely.”Connect: LinkedInName: Margot SèveWhat she does: Margot works on cases involving complex cross-border compliance and enforcement matters. These representations include the resolution of proceedings involving French and U.S. regulatory agencies and prosecutors relating to corruption, economic sanctions, money laundering, terrorism financing, market manipulation, financial fraud and competition laws.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: “The [EU] commission generally allows restricting the seller from hiring employees of a divested business for up to three years under certain conditions. And so, these are called ‘ancillary restraints’ because they are ancillary to the main agreement. So, standard non-solicitation covenants could also be justified in a cooperation agreement such as a subcontracting or consortium agreement. Even if criteria are met, the conditions are very strict.”Connect: LinkedInConnect with Skadden☑️ Follow us on X and LinkedIn.☑️ Subscribe to Fierce Competition on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.Fierce Competition is a podcast by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Affiliates. This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This podcast is considered advertising under applicable state laws.

The antitrust landscape in both the EU and U.S. is rapidly evolving as legacy legal frameworks, including Article 102, are being adapted to address digital platform dominance and new forms of monopolistic behavior. With the arrival of Teresa Ribera to the European Commission and a new U.S. administration, enforcement priorities are shifting toward digital markets, with a particular emphasis on speedy investigations, compliance and innovative theories of harm that go beyond traditional price and output concerns. Host Bill Batchelor unpacks the latest developments with Skadden colleagues Michael Frese and Justine Haimi. The discussion highlights recent high-profile cases involving Google, Apple and Amazon, examining the use of commitment decisions and the growing influence of the Digital Markets Act. 💡 Meet Your Host 💡Name: Bill BatchelorTitle: Partner, Antitrust/CompetitionSpecialty: Bill focuses his practice on conduct investigations, including abuse of dominance, cartels and vertical agreements.Connect: LinkedIn💡 Featured Guests 💡Name: Michael FreseWhat he does: Michael has more than 10 years of experience advising companies on all aspects of EU competition law and various areas of EU and national market regulation, including the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: “In August 2024, the commission issued draft guidelines and exclusionary abuses. These guidelines were meant to help undertakings self-assess their practices, but also to provide guidance to courts. One is hard pressed to find clear guidance in these draft guidelines other than the notion that the commission should have wide discretion.”Connect: LinkedIn Name: Justine Haimi  What she does: Justine represents clients in connection with the antitrust aspects of litigation, mergers and acquisitions and advisory matters. She has worked with clients across a diverse range of industries, including health care, medical devices, insurance, consumer goods, telecommunications, energy and pharmaceuticals.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: “President Trump has appointed Andrew Ferguson as chairman of the FTC and Gail Slater as the assistant attorney general responsible for antitrust at the DOJ. Both agency heads have stated that they plan to continue investigating big tech and more vigorously crack down on monopolies, but we may also expect to see some shifts in enforcement from the prior administration.”Connect: LinkedInConnect with Skadden☑️ Follow us on X and LinkedIn.☑️ Subscribe to Fierce Competition on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.Fierce Competition is a podcast by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Affiliates. This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This podcast is considered advertising under applicable state laws.

Antitrust premerger notification just became more complex. The Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act premerger form underwent substantial changes in February 2025, requiring significantly more information from merging parties. Host Rita Sinkfield Belin and her Skadden colleagues Joe Rancour and Joe Ciani-Dausch offer insights on the new requirements. The discussion highlights the 10 most notable changes, explores how these updates are being implemented and provides initial observations on what may lie ahead.💡 Meet Your Host 💡Name: Rita Sinkfield BelinTitle: Counsel, Antitrust/CompetitionSpecialty: Rita advises on the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act review process required to obtain federal antitrust approval for various types of acquisitions, including large, complex M&A and joint venture transactions.Connect: LinkedIn💡 Featured Guests 💡Name: Joe Ciani-DauschWhat he does: Joe represents clients in antitrust aspects of mergers and acquisitions, litigation at the trial and appellate court levels, arbitration and counseling.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: “The FTC itself estimated that it would take three times as much time on average to prepare the filing, even more in the case where there are overlaps between the parties. And, as we're preparing filings under the new rules, we're definitely seeing that that is, if anything, I think an underestimate.”Connect: LinkedIn Name: Joe RancourWhat he does: Joe represents clients in connection with antitrust aspects of mergers and acquisitions, investigations, counseling and litigation.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: "Preparation and self-awareness are going to be the name of the game under the new regime. The aperture is widening in terms of what the government's going to see early in the process. And that doesn't mean that it's a cause for concern. It means that you have to know what's in your files."Connect: LinkedInConnect with Skadden☑️ Follow us on X and LinkedIn.☑️ Subscribe to Fierce Competition on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.Fierce Competition is a podcast by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Affiliates. This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This podcast is considered advertising under applicable state laws.

Skadden antitrust partners Aurora Luoma and Bill Batchelor delve into the significant legislative and policy changes in U.K. competition law that took effect at the beginning of 2025. These changes, introduced by the Digital Market Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC), aim to address gaps in merger control and the digital markets regime while enhancing the enforcement capabilities of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The conversation highlights changes in the CMA's jurisdiction, particularly in reviewing mergers; procedural changes, such as the ability to fast-track to Phase 2; and the introduction of the strategic market status (SMS) regime. Bill and Aurora also provide insights into the political dimensions influencing the CMA's approach and the potential impact of recent leadership changes within the agency.💡 Meet Your Hosts 💡Name: Aurora LuomaTitle: Partner, SkaddenSpecialty:  Aurora has a broad practice covering key areas of competition law, including international merger control, antitrust investigations, state aid and sectoral regulation.Connect: LinkedInName: Bill BatchelorTitle: Partner, SkaddenSpecialty: Bill has 20 years of EU and U.K. competition law experience and focuses his practice on conduct investigations, including abuse of dominance, cartels and vertical agreements. Connect: LinkedIn Connect with Skadden☑️ Follow us on X and LinkedIn.☑️ Subscribe to Fierce Competition on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.Fierce Competition is a podcast by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Affiliates. This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This podcast is considered advertising under applicable state laws.

Antitrust regulators throughout the world often use their authority to review transactions that fall below filing thresholds. Host Julia Zhu invites Skadden colleagues Joseph Rancour and Niels Baeten to discuss how these deals fit in the global regulatory picture. The three antitrust attorneys cover ways in which enforcement is carried out, how deal-makers know if their transactions are called in and what the future holds in this area. Joe describes the legal frameworks and enforcement activities in the U.S., Niels discusses the environment in the EU and U.K. — including implications of the European Court of Justice’s landmark ruling in Illumina/Grail — and Julia covers the view among regulators in the Asia-Pacific region. 💡 Meet Your Host 💡Name: Julia ZhuTitle: Counsel, Antitrust/CompetitionSpecialty: Julia focuses on antitrust and competition law in China, Asia, the European Union and other jurisdictions.Connect: LinkedIn💡 Featured Guests 💡Name: Joseph RancourWhat he does: Joseph represents clients in connection with antitrust aspects of mergers and acquisitions, investigations, counseling and litigation.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: “HSR-reportable deals are certainly going to be the focus of attention for the agencies, but they’ve shown time and again that in cases where non-reportable deals pose significant competition issues … they have no compunction about going after those deals, investigating them and even challenging them when the facts are right.”Connect: LinkedInName: Niels Baeten  What he does: Niels covers all aspects of EU, international and Belgian competition law, including merger control, state aid and foreign subsidies, digital regulation, abuse of dominance, cartels and antitrust compliance issues.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: “While the [European] Commission hasn’t yet decided which way to go to review such deals following Illumina/Grail, the issue will really be a key focus for the commission in the coming months, no doubt. So we’re very much watching this space.”Connect: LinkedInConnect with Skadden☑️ Follow us on X and LinkedIn.☑️ Subscribe to Fierce Competition on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.Fierce Competition is a podcast by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Affiliates. This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This podcast is considered advertising under applicable state laws.

Cartels may be as old as “Adam Smith’s smoke-filled room,” but in today’s world, they’re employing sophisticated tools like algorithms and AI. Enforcers continue to target price-fixing, bid-rigging and other potential antitrust violations.Skadden attorneys Bill Batchelor (partner, Brussels and London) and James Fredricks (partner, Washington, D.C.) highlight what’s changed 一 and what hasn’t 一 when it comes to cartel enforcement. They compare and contrast prosecutorial priorities and methods on both sides of the Atlantic. “Prevention,” as Bill explains, “still remains far, far better than the cure.” Tune in for their insight and guidance to corporate counsel who may be navigating these waters.💡 Meet Your Host 💡Name: Bill BatchelorWhat he does: Bill Batchelor has 20 years of EU and U.K. competition law experience and focuses his practice on conduct investigations, including abuse of dominance, cartels and vertical agreements. He regularly represents clients on EU and global merger control matters and litigation, and provides counsel on distribution and collaboration agreements in complex and highly regulated industries, such as health care, financial services, insurance, media and entertainment, and gambling, among others.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: “We may have been slightly slow to pick up no-poach as an area of cartel interest, but we’re speeding up over in Europe. I think the main headlines in terms of the enforcement trends are: traditional cartels are still very much part of the enforcement focus.”Connect: LinkedIn💡 Featured Guests 💡Name: James FredricksWhat he does: James Fredricks counsels and defends clients on all types of antitrust investigations and prosecutions, as well as other complex and multijurisdictional actions brought by government enforcers. Previously, he served as an antitrust prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice for over two decades.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: “Just a couple of weeks ago, a jury returned a verdict against a couple of defendants in Savannah, Georgia, for fixing the prices of concrete, rigging bids for concrete, allocating customers for concrete. The legal theory that underpinned it was about as straightforward of a case of per se conduct as they come. No one should think that the government has abandoned its traditional prosecutorial priorities in this space.”Connect: LinkedInConnect with Skadden☑️ Follow us on X & LinkedIn.☑️ Subscribe to Fierce Competition on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast app.Fierce Competition is a podcast by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Affiliates. This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This podcast is considered advertising under applicable state laws.

In the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union, sports leagues — from soccer to golf to ice skating — are testing the boundaries of antitrust and competition laws.Skadden attorneys Bill Batchelor (partner, Brussels and London), Karen Lent (partner, New York) and Vikram Pandit (associate, Brussels) consider the intersection of sports and competition law on both sides of the Atlantic. Courts in all these jurisdictions are grappling with high-stakes questions concerning conspiracy, commercialism and college athletes. The cases that Bill, Karen and Vikram highlight involve a “super” soccer league in Europe, the NCAA’s amateurism model, salary caps for soccer in England and more. Tune in to hear their insights on  how future rulings could change the game.💡 Meet Your Host 💡Name: Vikram Pandit  Title: Associate, Antitrust/Competition at SkaddenSpecialty: Vikram is an associate in Skadden’s global Antitrust/Competition Group based in Brussels. Connect: LinkedIn💡 Featured Guests 💡Name: Bill BatchelorWhat he does: Bill Batchelor has 20 years of EU and U.K. competition law experience and focuses his practice on conduct investigations, including abuse of dominance, cartels and vertical agreements. He regularly represents clients on EU and global merger control matters and litigation, and provides counsel on distribution and collaboration agreements in complex and highly regulated industries, such as health care, financial services, insurance, media and entertainment, and gambling, among others.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: “It's interesting to see that some of these cases going all the way to the highest court in Europe are from individual players. So, it's not big litigation between huge organizations. An individual player can go to their local labor tribunal and that tribunal can refer a question of law directly up to the ECJ, and that can be the source of a new ruling on competition law that can affect a block of 450 million people.”Connect: LinkedInName: Karen LentWhat she does:  Karen Lent is co-head of Skadden’s sports practice and head of the New York office’s antitrust/competition practice, representing a wide variety of clients in antitrust, sports and other complex litigation matters at both the trial and appellate court levels. She also provides general antitrust counseling.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: “Certainly the kinds of rules — how many players do you have on the field, how many referees, those sorts of things — are the rules of the game, and if someone tries to challenge those from an antitrust perspective, they'd quickly be dismissed ... But if there are rules about how leagues deal with suppliers or customers, those would then be subject to the rule of reason. They would not be exempt from the antitrust laws.”Connect: LinkedInConnect with Skadden☑️ Follow us on X & LinkedIn.☑️ Subscribe to Fierce Competition on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast app.Fierce Competition is a podcast by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Affiliates. This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This podcast is considered advertising under applicable state laws.

In this episode of the "Fierce Competition" podcast, Skadden attorneys Tara Reinhart (partner, Washington, D.C.), Annie Villanueva Jeffers (partner, New York and Palo Alto) and Justine Haimi (counsel, New York) explore the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC’s) landmark ban on noncompete agreements. They discuss the FTC's rationale for the rule, as well as potential implications of the ban for businesses and enforcement challenges it may face. Tara, Annie and Justine point out the likelihood of a preliminary injunction against the rule due to ongoing litigation, and they highlight strategies for employers to navigate this new landscape. The episode emphasizes the FTC's increased focus on labor and worker protection, underscoring the need for companies to monitor the situation given its potential widespread impact on antitrust enforcement and employment practices. 💡 Meet Your Host 💡Name: Tara ReinhartTitle: Partner, Antitrust/Competition at SkaddenSpecialty: Tara is head of the Antitrust/Competition Group in Skadden’s Washington, D.C. office. She focuses on civil litigation and government investigations, with an emphasis on complex antitrust litigation and international cartel probes.Connect: LinkedIn💡 Featured Guests 💡Name: Annie Villanueva JeffersWhat she does: Annie is a partner in the Labor and Employment Law and Artificial Intelligence Groups at Skadden. She counsels clients on a broad range of employment matters, including employment-related issues arising out of U.S. and multinational corporate transactions, executive employment agreements, restrictive covenant agreements, reductions-in-force, discrimination charges and lawsuits, collective bargaining agreements and internal investigations.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: On the FTC rule banning noncompetes: “It seems likely that this rule will be enjoined by the courts. I don't have a crystal ball, but that seems likely, in my opinion.”Connect: LinkedInName: Justine Haimi  What she does: Justine is a counsel in the Antitrust/Competition Group at Skadden. She represents clients in connection with the antitrust aspects of litigation, mergers and acquisitions and advisory matters. She has worked with clients across a diverse range of industries, including health care, medical devices, insurance, consumer goods, telecommunications, energy and pharmaceuticals.Organization: SkaddenWords of wisdom: On the FTC rule banning noncompetes: “This rule is really a bombshell, but in retrospect, it was years in the making.”Connect: LinkedInConnect with Skadden☑️ Follow us on Twitter & LinkedIn.☑️ Subscribe to Fierce Competition on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast app.Fierce Competition is a podcast by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Affiliates. This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This podcast is considered advertising under applicable state laws.