Researching Antitrust Law Bill Schwesig Reference Librarian and Bibliographer for Common Law.

Researching Antitrust Law

Bill Schwesig

Reference Librarian and Bibliographer for Common Law

Sherman Act 1890 Clayton Act 1914 Federal Trade Commission Act 1914 Robinson-Patman Act (Anti-Price Discrimination Act) Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1984

Antitrust Laws

Antitrust Law

Section 1 prohibited "[e]very contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce …”

Section 2 banned individuals from monopolizing or trying to monopolize.

Sherman Act 1890

Declared four practices illegal but not criminal:

1. Price discrimination

2. Tying and exclusive-dealing contracts

3. Corporate mergers

4. Interlocking directorates

Clayton Act 1914

Created the Federal Trade Commission to enforce the Sherman Act and Clayton Act.

Federal Trade Commission Act

Anti-Price Discrimination Act Prohibited unfair discounts to chain stores

Robinson-Patman Act 1936

Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976

Provides for FTC and DOJ review of proposed mergers and acquisitions.

Divestiture often a condition of approval

Hart-Scott-Rodino

Standard Oil Co. American Tobacco Co. AT&T – long distance service IBM – vertical integration Microsoft

Major Trust-Busting Cases

Criminal Prosecutions under the Sherman Act are filed by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice.

Civil enforcement is by both the Dept of Justice Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC deals with unfair and deceptive practices and consumer fraud.

Jurisdiction

Antitrust Law

Primary Law Statutes Regulations State Laws Court Decisions Consent Decrees FTC Decisions

Enforcement DOJ Case Filings FTC Case Filings Business Reviews Guidelines

Primary Law and Enforcement

Areeda and Hovenkamp Treatise Strong on law and economics

Federal Trade Reporter Statutes, regulations, enforcement guidelines Federal Enforcement Actions US Antitrust Cases, CCH Trade Cases Business Review Letters FTC Complaints and Orders Older enforcement actions are in print

Antitrust Law on CCH Intelliconnect

USCS and CFR Treatises

Antitrust Laws & Trade Regulation – Van Kalinowski Federal Antitrust Law – Earl Kintner

Cases and Consent Decrees FTC Orders and Guidelines Emerging Issues

Antitrust Law on LexisNexis

Antitrust Law on LexisNexis

Antitrust & Trade Regulation Resource Center Antitrust & Trade Regulation Report Antitrust & Trade Regulation Daily BNA Corporate Portfolios: Antitrust

Available on Bloomberg BNA and Bloomberg Law Alerts

Antitrust Law on Bloomberg BNA

The Government must prove that challenged activities restrain competition

Rule of Reason or Per Se violation? Economic evidence is crucial What is the market? Local, state, national, global? How much concentration is too much? Vertical vs. Horizontal integration

Economic Analysis

Antitrust Division Enforcement Actions filed since 1994 Criminal enforcement, statistics Merger Reviews since 1994 Appellate Briefs Economic Analysis Group Discussion Papers Market Analysis Papers

www.justice.gov/atr/

Department of Justice

Dept of Economics Economic Reports - Long-term evaluations of past

enforcement actions Issue Papers, Working Papers Health Care Economics

Competition Enforcement Database Congressional Testimony Advocacy Filings

www.ftc.gov

Federal Trade Commission

Questions?

Ask a Law Librarian

www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/law/

Bill [email protected]