May 25, 2017
Antitrust: Will DOJ “Dawn Raids” Become More Common?
The DOJ’s Antitrust Division has traditionally used civil processes (subpoenas & CIDs) to gather evidence. However, this Clifford Chance memo says that 2 recent “dawn raids” may signal a change in tactics:
On May 2, 2017, the DOJ raided the Michigan corporate offices of Perrigo. The Ireland headquartered generic drug manufacturer stated that the inspection was associated with an ongoing investigation regarding drug pricing in the pharmaceutical industry. Just two months earlier, in March 2017, the DOJ raided a meeting in San Francisco of the world’s largest container shipping operators as part of an ongoing investigation into the shipping industry. These mark a decided uptick in the number of antitrust-related dawn raids by the DOJ, which traditionally conducted only a handful every few years.
The memo discusses what to expect with a dawn raid & what to do if you’re on the receiving end of one.
– John Jenkins