eDiscovery is a “Swiss army knife” and Cimplifi discusses several important considerations for HSR second requests you need to know!

Their post (Why Use a Hammer When You Can Use a Swiss Army Knife?: Considerations for HSR Second Requests, available here) reminds us that more than 40% of 410 respondents (42.9%) in the eDiscovery Today 2023 State of the Industry Report said they apply eDiscovery technology and workflows to Hart–Scott–Rodino (HSR) second requests.

The HSR Act is a set of amendments to the antitrust laws of the US and has been in place since 1976. The HSR Act requires that parties wait to complete certain mergers, acquisitions or transfers of securities or assets, including grants of executive compensation, until they have made a detailed filing with the FTC and DOJ and waited for those government agencies to determine that the transaction will not adversely affect US commerce under antitrust laws. If the FTC or DOJ seeks additional information through what is known as a “second request,” the law forbids merging firms from consummating a transaction until the companies have substantially complied with the additional investigatory request.

Once a second request is issued, the FTC and/or DOJ negotiates with the parties involved to discuss the scope of information needed to satisfy the government’s information needs to approve the merger or acquisition and the time frame for the information to be provided (among other things).

According to Statista, there have been 104,745 merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions in the US in the past five years, with 2021 having a record number of transactions, with 24,899 (after a dip the previous year because of the COVID 19 pandemic). Typically, a small percentage of transactions (about 3 percent on average) result in second requests.

So, what are three possible outcomes that stem from the process for HSR second requests? How does eDiscovery for HSR second requests differ from eDiscovery for litigation? And what are six considerations for conducting HSR second requests effectively? Check out their article here to find out! It’s only one more click! Here, you only get a first request! 😉

So, what do you think? To how many use cases does your organization apply eDiscovery technology and workflows? Surely more than one, right? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

BTW, I’m on my first real vacation in three years (seriously! – this post was pre-scheduled!) so I may be slow to respond to comments here and on social media. 🙂

Disclosure: Cimplifi is an Educational Partner and sponsor of eDiscovery Today

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by my employer, my partners or my clients. eDiscovery Today is made available solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Today should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.