Insights

Washington – August 21, 2025: The 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® has recognized 49 Crowell & Moring lawyers as Best Lawyers and 33 lawyers as Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch. The publication also named partner Jason Murray as Lawyer of the Year for Antitrust Law in Los Angeles.

Washington – July 8, 2025: Crowell & Moring has secured summary judgment on behalf of longtime firm client CSX Transportation, Inc., prevailing in nearly 20 years of multi-district litigation known as In re Rail Freight Fuel Surcharge Antitrust Litigation. Crowell and three other leading firms representing prominent rail companies led a joint defense group in one of the longest-running and most complex antitrust litigations in U.S. history.

Two bills currently making their way through the California Legislature could, if passed, have far-reaching implications for how companies doing business in California price their goods and services. California Assembly Bill 325 (Aguiar-Curry) and Senate Bill 384 (Wahab), as drafted, seek broad prohibitions against the use, distribution of, and inputs into algorithmic pricing and supply software, even where there is no coordination among competitors on the use of such software or the setting of prices. Their enactment would reach every business that uses software applications to develop pricing, supply levels and other commercial terms in California. Crowell & Moring represents the California Chamber of Commerce (“CalChamber”) in monitoring, analyzing and responding to the proposed bills.

Growing focus on antitrust enforcement at the federal level in recent years has been accompanied by a similar trend at the state level. Notably, multiple states have enacted or are considering enacting various legislative or regulatory changes that would create new regulatory requirements for businesses and make antitrust suits significantly easier for state attorneys general and private plaintiffs. These include new pre-transaction notice requirements, as well as the expansion of existing state antitrust statutes to cover more types of conduct while shifting the burden and expense of litigation from plaintiffs to defendants. In several cases, states have expressed a clear intent to increase enforcement related to the private equity and healthcare industries specifically.

Over the last year, the California Law Revision Commission (“CLRC”), the influential body that makes recommendations to the legislature, has been considering sweeping reforms to California’s antitrust law, the Cartwright Act. Recently, the CLRC voted to propose several changes to the Cartwright Act aimed at expanding the reach and scope of the law. Companies doing business in California should pay close attention to this ongoing process because of the potentially dramatic impact such new state laws could have, including increased exposure to antitrust litigation. Crowell & Moring is representing the California Chamber of Commerce (“CalChamber”) in monitoring, analyzing and responding to the CLRC’s recommendations.