Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, SUPREME COURT DOCKET: Recent decisions, cases, and petitions pending High Court review, (Dec 31, 2014)

This Antitrust Law Daily feature presents a chart highlighting the decisions, arguments, briefs, and petitions on antitrust and trade regulation issues before the October 2014 Term of the U.S. Supreme Court.

To date, there are 12 antitrust and trade regulation cases docketed for the October 2014 term and the Court has agreed to hear three of them, relating to antitrust. Eight other cases—involving acquisitions and mergers, advertising, antitrust, consumer protection, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act—were denied certiorari.

There is one new petition for review listed in the Docket. In Straw v. Kloecker, an attorney is seeking review of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago that found the attorney’s civil RICO claim against opposing counsel frivolous. The Petitioner asks in part: (1) whether, as a matter of law under the civil provisions of the RICO Act, a law firm may demand from a disabled person, using threats, the private health information of the disabled person including access to the disabled person’s private Medicare claims database information, with the express purpose of giving this health information to a newspaper publisher defamation defendant; and (2) whether civil RICO’s enterprise and racketeering requirements were met when defendants and their client worked together to demand the private health information, the threat letter was sent by U.S. Mail and email, and the letter indicated that the newspaper would keep and use the health information indefinitely, with no Privacy Act notice or other guarantee of privacy of the information.

For details about this and other petitions and cases pending before the Supreme Court, please consult the chart of antitrust and trade regulation cases awaiting decision in the 2014 term. Issued opinions, granted petitions, and pending petitions are listed separately, along with a summary of the questions presented and the current status of each case.

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