The antitrust landscape in both the EU and U.S. is rapidly evolving as legacy legal frameworks, including Article 102, are being adapted to address digital platform dominance and new forms of monopolistic behavior. With the arrival of Teresa Ribera to the European Commission and a new U.S. administration, enforcement priorities are shifting toward digital markets, with a particular emphasis on speedy investigations, compliance and innovative theories of harm that go beyond traditional price and output concerns. Host Bill Batchelor unpacks the latest developments with Skadden colleagues Michael Frese and Justine Haimi. The discussion highlights recent high-profile cases involving Google, Apple and Amazon, examining the use of commitment decisions and the growing influence of the Digital Markets Act.

Name: Bill Batchelor

Title: Partner, Antitrust/Competition

Specialty: Bill focuses his practice on conduct investigations, including abuse of dominance, cartels and vertical agreements.

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Name: Michael Frese

What he does: Michael has more than 10 years of experience advising companies on all aspects of EU competition law and various areas of EU and national market regulation, including the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act.

Organization: Skadden

Words of wisdom: “In August 2024, the commission issued draft guidelines and exclusionary abuses. These guidelines were meant to help undertakings self-assess their practices, but also to provide guidance to courts. One is hard pressed to find clear guidance in these draft guidelines other than the notion that the commission should have wide discretion.”

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Name: Justine Haimi

What she does: Justine represents clients in connection with the antitrust aspects of litigation, mergers and acquisitions and advisory matters. She has worked with clients across a diverse range of industries, including health care, medical devices, insurance, consumer goods, telecommunications, energy and pharmaceuticals.

Organization: Skadden

Words of wisdom: “President Trump has appointed Andrew Ferguson as chairman of the FTC and Gail Slater as the assistant attorney general responsible for antitrust at the DOJ. Both agency heads have stated that they plan to continue investigating big tech and more vigorously crack down on monopolies, but we may also expect to see some shifts in enforcement from the prior...

Antitrust premerger notification just became more complex. The Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act premerger form underwent substantial changes in February 2025, requiring significantly more information from merging parties. Host Rita Sinkfield Belin and her Skadden colleagues Joe Rancour and Joe Ciani-Dausch offer insights on the new requirements. The discussion highlights the 10 most notable changes, explores how these updates are being implemented and provides initial observations on what may lie ahead.

Name: Rita Sinkfield Belin

Title: Counsel, Antitrust/Competition

Specialty: Rita advises on the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act review process required to obtain federal antitrust approval for various types of acquisitions, including large, complex M&A and joint venture transactions.

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Name: Joe Ciani-Dausch

What he does: Joe represents clients in antitrust aspects of mergers and acquisitions, litigation at the trial and appellate court levels, arbitration and counseling.

Organization: Skadden

Words of wisdom: “The FTC itself estimated that it would take three times as much time on average to prepare the filing, even more in the case where there are overlaps between the parties. And, as we're preparing filings under the new rules, we're definitely seeing that that is, if anything, I think an underestimate.”

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Name: Joe Rancour

What he does: Joe represents clients in connection with antitrust aspects of mergers and acquisitions, investigations, counseling and litigation.

Organization: Skadden

Words of wisdom: "Preparation and self-awareness are going to be the name of the game under the new regime. The aperture is widening in terms of what the government's going to see early in the process. And that doesn't mean that it's a cause for concern. It means that you have to know what's in your files."

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Skadden antitrust partners Aurora Luoma and Bill Batchelor delve into the significant legislative and policy changes in U.K. competition law that took effect at the beginning of 2025. These changes, introduced by the Digital Market Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC), aim to address gaps in merger control and the digital markets regime while enhancing the enforcement capabilities of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The conversation highlights changes in the CMA's jurisdiction, particularly in reviewing mergers; procedural changes, such as the ability to fast-track to Phase 2; and the introduction of the strategic market status (SMS) regime. Bill and Aurora also provide insights into the political dimensions influencing the CMA's approach and the potential impact of recent leadership changes within the agency.

Name: Aurora Luoma

Title: Partner, Skadden

Specialty: Aurora has a broad practice covering key areas of competition law, including international merger control, antitrust investigations, state aid and sectoral regulation.

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Name: Bill Batchelor

Title: Partner, Skadden

Specialty: Bill has 20 years of EU and U.K. competition law experience and focuses his practice on conduct investigations, including abuse of dominance, cartels and vertical agreements.

Connect: LinkedIn

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Fierce Competition is a podcast by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Affiliates. This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This podcast is considered advertising under applicable state laws.