Washington

We explore the trends for Business and Commercial Disputes in the UK, US and France/EU in 2025. Here's what you should know. UK In the spotlight: corporates asserting privilege against shareholders Continued focus on litigation funding Increase in open justice Easier enforcement Court-compelled Negotiated Dispute Resolution – watch this space France Rise of mass claims in France and rise of class actions in France and the EU The new EU product liability directive adopted on October 11, 2024 Rise of ESG related claims US More M&A deals means more post-closing disputes? Head off rising number of workplace issues with internal investigations Disclosure of litigation funding in the United States

On January 21, 2025, the Trump Administration issued an executive order entitled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit Based Opportunity” (“EO”). The stated purpose of the EO is to direct the federal government to enforce the civil rights laws by taking action against “illegal” preferences and discrimination, including measures taking aim at private sector diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) policies and programs. As we highlighted, the EO has significant implications for federal contractor affirmative action obligations and serves as a strong signal of the Trump administration’s increased scrutiny toward private sector DEI programs. Importantly, the EO also seeks to impose False Claims Act liability on federal contractors and grant recipients who maintain DEI programs that run afoul of federal civil rights law.

Both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division have focused their sights on big technology companies. Understanding the precedents set by these suits is critical for clients operating in today’s online marketplaces, both to avoid the risk of antitrust investigations or litigation, and to understand whether a client has been harmed by potentially unlawful conduct.  A September 30, 2024 decision by Judge Chun in the Western District of Washington in the FTC v. Amazon.com case—unsealed to the public on October 7, 2024—demonstrates the increasing breadth of the agencies’ antitrust theories and the wide impacts of Amazon’s sprawling pricing algorithms.*

On October 10, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), with the concurrence of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, (the “DOJ”, and together, the “Agencies”) voted unanimously to adopt new premerger notification rules (the “Final Rule”) that implement the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (the “HSR Act”). The Agencies had previously announced proposed amendments on June 27, 2023, which we covered in a previous insight. The Final Rule reflects numerous changes made during a lengthy review and comment period, including a thorough revamping of the Premerger Notification and Report Form (the “New Form”) that parties are each required to complete if their transaction is reportable under the HSR Act.