Antitrust

Areas of Study
Antitrust

Competition is a central mechanism of a market economy. Antitrust law is designed to curb monopolies and promote competition throughout the country. When effectively applied, it propels innovation, promotes business development, and prevents the concentration and abuse of power by private firms.

How do lawyers engage with and interpret antitrust law to navigate challenges regarding competition policy and competitive markets, particularly in an age of Big Tech and generative AI?

Columbia Law is home to some of the world’s most influential antitrust scholars, bringing with them extensive, real-world antitrust experience into the classroom. Faculty members have served in the highest echelons of the federal government, holding positions such as chair of the Federal Trade Commission and special assistant to the president for competition policy.

Why Columbia?

Study with full-time faculty who have written seminal texts on competition, including Lina Khan (“Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox”) and Tim Wu (The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age).

Investigate and litigate antitrust cases through externships with the Antitrust Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office.

Hear from outside speakers who have participated in recent antitrust trials, including lawyers, judges, and testifying witnesses.

Explore advanced antitrust topics, including labor antitrust, interaction with other regulatory fields, macroeconomics and antitrust, and industrial policy.

Join other students in exploring the many dimensions of antitrust as an editor of the Columbia Business Law Review and member of the Columbia Antitrust Law and Economics Association.

“I believe that we need to reinvigorate a great American tradition, and that is the tradition of antitrust. . . . It’s long been part of the American tradition to believe in competition, to believe in competitive markets, and Americans have always rebelled against concentrated power. A big part of the Constitution is dividing up power to make sure no one has too much.”
—Tim Wu, Julius Silver Professor of Law, Science and Technology

Related Centers and Programs

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Center for Law and the Economy

The Center for Law and the Economy is dedicated to developing and promoting research, scholarship, and teaching on the ways in which law and legal institutions structure the economy. The center is led by Associate Professors of Law Lina M. Khan, who served as chair of the Federal Trade Commission from 2021 to 2025, and Lev Menand. The center also houses the Law and Economy Student Network, which will help train and develop the next generation of legal and economic scholars and policy leaders and provide them with the support needed to advance careers in public service.

Areas of Study

Ira M. Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership

The Millstein Center operates at the forefront of new thinking about how corporations are governed. The center engages with business leaders and board directors to create meaningful dialogue about the challenges companies face, and to be a focal point for the most innovative research into the policy solutions required to tackle those challenges. Its mission is twofold: to help corporate leaders successfully navigate challenges facing their companies and to bridge the gap between academics and practitioners by developing practical solutions to corporate ownership issues.

Areas of Study

Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy

The Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy—a joint venture of Columbia Law School and Columbia Business School—fosters dialogue and debate at the intersection of business, law, and public policy. Columbia faculty involved with the center conduct rigorous curricular and research initiatives in order to produce real-world solutions to complex interdisciplinary challenges. The center’s offerings also include a dual J.D./MBA degree, an executive education program, a Blue Sky Workshop that facilitates knowledge sharing, public lectures, conferences, and forums.

Areas of Study