The transition from COVID-19 pandemic response to recovery has led to a resurgence in business travel, including a return to in-person trade shows, trade association meetings and other events attended by multiple competitors. This return to the road presents positive, lawful opportunities for businesses and employees alike.
Given historical antitrust enforcement in the auto parts space and the U.S. Department of Justice’s renewed focus on antitrust under the Biden Administration, it’s important to remember that events like trade shows or trade association meetings can be venues conducive to illegal competitive coordination — such as price fixing — under antitrust laws.
With that in mind, businesses should consider the following Dos and Don’ts as they return to travel and potential in-person interactions with competitors:
For more information from Warner’s Automotive Industry Group, visit their website here.
Attorney Spotlight — Charlie Quigg
Charlie Quigg is a problem solver who represents clients in complex civil and criminal matters, guiding them smoothly through every step of the process, from pre-suit investigations to appeals. A quick study, Charlie’s experience includes matters in a variety of substantive areas, including commercial law, antitrust, public corruption, campaign finance, the False Claims Act, administrative law, health care, bankruptcy, intellectual property, tax and environmental law.
Charlie’s background includes working as in-house counsel for an international engine parts manufacturer with headquarters in the United States and facilities in Mexico, Spain and China. This experience gives Charlie an insider’s perspective on legal matters facing automotive suppliers. Even more importantly, Charlie’s unique profile helps him better understand the business and manufacturing issues that affect the legal matters he handles for clients. He is passionate about clients’ businesses and learning how things are made, and it helps that Charlie is fanatical about all things cars.
Much of Charlie’s practice centers on high stakes internal and government investigations and appeals. He frequently represents clients in both federal and state matters of that nature. Charlie also has extensive experience in related issues, such as the preservation, collection and review of documents in complex matters involving millions of documents. Charlie also counsels clients prior to litigation ever becoming an issue, setting them up to proactively manage and resolve misunderstandings and/or conflicts before they ever evolve into a formal and costly dispute.
Charlie has been named to the Ones to Watch List by Best Lawyers in America© in the areas of White Collar Criminal Defense and Antitrust Law. Charlie also serves as the editor-in-chief of Bar & Bench, the newsletter for the West Michigan Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.
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