DOJ Revives Business Review Letters, Then Withdraws One

On July 8, 2026, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division relaunched the business review letter (BRL) program, offering companies an “open invitation” to ask, in advance, whether the Antitrust Division intends to challenge conduct they are considering. On August 5, 2026, the Division withdrew a BRL it had issued to Institutional Shareholder Services under that same program in 1987. Skadden partners Karen Hoffman Lent and Kenneth Schwartz discuss how the two developments tell a single story about the value and limits of such guidance.