Understanding and Reacting to New and Increased Risks

Businesses are facing new and increased risks as they work to continue operations and meet changing demand. The unprecedented duration and nationwide scope of the emergency has created additional complexities for companies that operate on a nationwide basis. They often must comply with price gouging laws in many more states and over a substantially longer period of time than has ever occurred in any prior emergency in which price gouging laws were activated.

The definition of price gouging varies significantly from state to state, and consequently, so do the compliance standards. Non-compliance could be met with hefty penalties, as most states charge per individual violation. State attorneys general, private plaintiffs, and the federal government have all been active in price gouging investigations and enforcement actions up and down the supply chain.

Because these price gouging compliance risks are both new and unique to this pandemic, companies cannot necessarily rely on their existing monitoring and risk mitigation systems (for price gouging or otherwise). Even those few companies that had price gouging compliance procedures in place before this pandemic may find that those procedures are out of date or incomplete due to recent changes in the law and changes in enforcement priorities. Given the increased risks to national and multi-state companies across the supply chain, companies should consider conducting what effectively amounts to a “Price Gouging Audit.”

Creating a Compliance Tracking Process

Companies should consider a review of their current policies and procedures to track and comply with the particular price gouging laws that affect their business. A Price Gouging Audit may include a range of steps, depending on a particular company’s facts and circumstances, and could include:

  • Identifying which goods and/or services may be subject to various price gouging laws and regulations;
  • Tracking sales and identifying the states in which a company may be deemed to do business for the purpose of the price gouging laws;
  • Determining which state or local regulations may apply;
  • Determining how to set a compliance baseline;
  • Evaluating current employee training processes to see if additional training on price gouging is necessary; and/or
  • Evaluating current price setting and documentation processes to see if changes should be made in light of price gouging laws.

Depending on the results of their review, a company may also want to take affirmative steps to create additional protocols for price gouging compliance. These steps could include:

  • Developing additional employee training processes to account for price gouging training;
  • Developing additional price setting and documentation processes to account for price gouging laws; and/or
  • Creating an overarching price gouging compliance monitoring team to help oversee the above processes.

Benefits of Conducting a Price Gouging Audit

Engaging in a Price Gouging Audit may help companies understand the unique risks and requirements of this moment, and enable them to create a single strategy to do business in multiple states while staying within the bounds of the multiple and varying state price gouging legal regimes to which they may be subject.

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Visit Proskauer on Price Gouging for antitrust insights on Covid-19.

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Proskauer’s cross-disciplinary, cross-jurisdictional Coronavirus Response Team is focused on supporting and addressing client concerns. Visit our Coronavirus Resource Center for guidance on risk management measures, practical steps businesses can take and resources to help manage ongoing operations.

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Photo of Kelly Landers Hawthorne Kelly Landers Hawthorne

Kelly Landers Hawthorne is an associate in the Litigation Department and a member of the Antitrust and Product Liability groups. She represents clients in litigations and due diligence across a range of industries, including consumer products, life sciences, healthcare, education, hospitality, sports and…

Kelly Landers Hawthorne is an associate in the Litigation Department and a member of the Antitrust and Product Liability groups. She represents clients in litigations and due diligence across a range of industries, including consumer products, life sciences, healthcare, education, hospitality, sports and entertainment.

Kelly also maintains a diverse pro bono practice. She received Proskauer’s Golden Gavel Award for excellence in pro bono work in 2019.

She is a frequent contributor to Proskauer’s Minding Your Business blog, where she authors articles related to price gouging issues.

Kelly is also a member of the Proskauer Women’s Alliance Steering Committee, where she serves on subcommittees focused on highlighting and providing professional development opportunities for women at the firm.

Prior to her legal career, Kelly was a Teach For America corps member and taught middle school in Washington, DC.

While at Columbia Law School, Kelly served as an articles editor of the Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts and interned for the Honorable Sandra Townes of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Photo of John R. Ingrassia John R. Ingrassia

John is a partner at the Firm, advising on the full range of foreign investment and antitrust matters across industries, including chemicals, pharmaceutical, medical devices, telecommunications, financial services consumer goods and health care. He is the first call clients make in matters relating…

John is a partner at the Firm, advising on the full range of foreign investment and antitrust matters across industries, including chemicals, pharmaceutical, medical devices, telecommunications, financial services consumer goods and health care. He is the first call clients make in matters relating to competition and antitrust, CFIUS or foreign investment issues.

For more than 25 years, John has counselled businesses facing the most challenging antitrust issues and helped them stay out of the crosshairs — whether its distribution, pricing, channel management, mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, or price gouging compliance.

John’s practice focuses on the analysis and resolution of CFIUS and antitrust issues related to mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures, and the analysis and assessment of pre-merger CFIUS and HSR notification requirements. He advises clients on issues related to CFIUS national security reviews, and on CFIUS submissions when non-U.S. buyers seek to acquire U.S. businesses that have national security sensitivities.  He also regularly advises clients on international antitrust issues arising in proposed acquisitions and joint ventures, including reportability under the EC Merger Regulation and numerous other foreign merger control regimes.

His knowledge, reputation and extensive experience with the legal, practical, and technical requirements of merger clearance make him a recognized authority on Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust merger review. John is regularly invited to participate in Federal Trade Commission and bar association meetings and takes on the issues of the day.

Photo of Christopher E. Ondeck Christopher E. Ondeck

Chris Ondeck is co-chair of the Firm’s Antitrust Group and co-head of the Washington DC office. He represents clients in complex antitrust and consumer protection litigation, defends mergers and acquisitions before the U.S. antitrust agencies, represents companies involved in government investigations, and counsels…

Chris Ondeck is co-chair of the Firm’s Antitrust Group and co-head of the Washington DC office. He represents clients in complex antitrust and consumer protection litigation, defends mergers and acquisitions before the U.S. antitrust agencies, represents companies involved in government investigations, and counsels on antitrust compliance. Chris is also the founder and leader of the firm’s Price Gouging Practice, and is one of the key thought leaders in this space.

Chris handles antitrust matters for clients in a number of industries, including food and agriculture, financial services, media, telecom, technology, e-commerce, consumer products, natural resources, oil and gas, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.  He also serves as outside counsel to a large number of industry groups, including trade associations and cooperatives.

Chris has been recognized as a leading antitrust practitioner by Chambers, noting that clients describe him as “our primary thought partner – he’s very good at explaining the complex issues and making them easy to understand” and praising “his strong advocacy skills”; by The National Law Review as a “Go To Thought Leader 2020”; by Acritas as a “Star” in multiple years; by Benchmark Litigation as a National Litigation Star 2021; and by The Legal 500 United States for Antitrust: Civil Litigation/Class Actions.