S. Antitrust at Trial

Antitrust at Trial is a practical course analyzing actual experience in recent antitrust trials to identify what accounted for the outcome. The course applies the essentials of leading edge antitrust issues to actual trial practice. Although we will not conduct actual examinations, as in a trial practicum, we will look at what the lawyers did at trial and how that contributed to the outcome. Guest speakers include the actual trial lawyers, judges, and testifying witnesses from a set of recent antitrust trials. We cover bench and jury trials and civil as well as criminal cases. This is a unique curricular opportunity for anybody considering a career as a litigator, but particularly for anybody considering a career as an antitrust litigator.

In terms of substantive antitrust legal issues, we investigate: (a) current status of tying law; (b) two-sided platforms after Ohio v. American Express; (c) developments on the labor market side, including no-poach and no-compete developments, as well as the franchise context; (d) merger standards, including monopsony (relevant to both no-poach and Bertelsmann cases), and the efficiencies defense after Bertelsmann.

Case materials will consist of, among other things: (a) the opinions in the selected recent cases; (b) key in limine and other rulings; (c) relevant excerpts from economic expert reports/testimony and trial transcripts; (d) jury instructions and verdict forms, where relevant; and (e) background reading from the antitrust canon as relevant to the trials we focus on.