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Federal Circuit Reaffirms Deferential OCI Standard

Client Alert | 1 min read | 05.06.09

The Federal Circuit in Axiom Resource Mgmt., Inc. v. U.S. (May 4, 2009) reversed the CFC decision granting a protest on the basis of an organization conflict of interest ("OCI"), and, in doing so, reaffirmed that, when the CFC reviews an OCI determination by a CO, including, in this case, the adequacy of a mitigation plan, it must apply the deferential "arbitrary and capricious" standard of the Administrative Procedure Act. In addition, the appellate court criticized the CFC for accepting litigation affidavits and relying on them when there was no need to supplement the administrative record, along the way casting doubt on the vitality of the Esch factors commonly used by the CFC in deciding whether to supplement an agency record in a bid protest case.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 02.13.26

Recent Developments in U.S. Merger Enforcement: HSR Rule Overturned and Leadership Changes at DOJ Antitrust Division

In October 2024, the FTC adopted a final rule that substantially modified the HSR form, requiring new categories of information and documents. The final rule was the most significant overhaul of the HSR premerger notification requirements in decades. The new requirements imposed additional time and expense on merging parties, with the FTC estimating that the new form would likely take triple the amount of time to complete than the previous form. Numerous groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, sued to challenge the rule....