Slater delivered the remarks at Ohio State University Law School, where she detailed a project led by Front Office counsels Alice Wang and Andrew Kline that surveyed Division staff on problematic tactics used by outside lawyers.
The new "Comply with Care" initiative aims to provide a uniform and efficient response to discovery disputes, ensuring the Division takes decisive action against parties that attempt to circumvent legal requirements or hinder investigations.
Slater cited recent high-profile examples of obstruction, including a district court's finding that Apple engaged in an "obvious cover-up" and flouted an injunction by charging a new 27 percent commission after being enjoined from anticompetitive conduct.
She also highlighted systematic evidence destruction by Google, noting that three different courts found the company engaged in willful deletion of relevant information and abused attorney-client privilege under its own "Communicate with Care" initiative.
On the merger front, Slater pointed to a proposed settlement requiring UnitedHealth Group to make broad divestitures and pay a $1.1 million civil penalty for Amedisys's false certification under the HSR Act.
The Division also filed a lawsuit against KKR & Co. and over a dozen of its investment advisors for failing to comply with the HSR Act across at least 16 separate transactions, alleging that KKR altered documents and systematically omitted required filings.
Slater emphasized that privilege abuses are grounds for enforcement actions, citing a 2020 case where the Division petitioned a court to enforce compliance with a Civil Investigative Demand after Bain asserted blanket privilege over documents related to Visa's pricing strategy.
She warned that parties and counsel who fail to comply or try to delay lose credibility, stating the Division will not shy away from pursuing penalties and bringing issues to court for those that flout fair play.