Case Development and Litigation Strategy (2023)
New Materials will be posted as they are finalized
Dale Collins
Georgetown University Law Center
NB: "±" indicates that the hyperlink will take you to another site.
This page contains the memorandum introducing the course, class schedule, reading materials, and class notes for the antitrust procedure course taught during the 2023 spring semester at Georgetown. It also contains links to related supplemental materials on the Applied Antitrust web site. There is no textbook for this course. Everything you need will be linked to this page.
Introduction and "Rules of the Road" Memorandum
Class schedule 2.0 (rev. Feb. 2, 2023)
Seminar Paper Due Dates
Seminar Paper Materials
Required Reading
Supplemental Material
Unit 1
Introduction to Price Fixing: The Indianapolis Ready-Mix Concrete Conspiracy
Class 1
Tuesday, August 29
Major substantive antitrust offenses
United States v. Beaver
Price-fixing motivations
Antitrust criminal investigations and search warrants
Federal Rules of Evidence: Selected rules
Introduction and "Rules of the Road" Memorandum
Class schedule (rev. Feb. 2, 2023)
Introduction to Price Fixing:Legal and Economic Foundations (class notes)
Commentary
± Minhae Kim, Ryan Mansley, Nathn Miller, Marc Remer & Matthew Weinberg, Price-Fixing Allegations in the Canned Tuna Industry: A Look at the Data (Georgetown McDonough School of Business Research Paper No. 279625, Sept. 8, 2022).
A History of Business Cartels (Martin Shanahan & Susanna Fellman eds., 2022)
Perspectives on Antitrust Compliance (Anne Riley, Andreas Stephan & Anny Tubbs eds., 2022)
James B. Lieber, Rats In The Grain: The Dirty Tricks and Trials of Archer Daniels Midland, The Supermarket to the World (2002) (lysine cartel)
Kurt Eichenwald, The Informant (2000) (lysine cartel)
Christopher Mason, The Art of The Steal: Inside the Sotheby’s-Christie’s Auction House Scandal (2005)
Gilbert Geis, White Collar Crime: The Heavy Electrical Equipment Antitrust Cases of 1961, in Criminal Behavior Systems: A Typology 139 (Marshall B. Clinard & Richard Quinney eds., 1967)
Prisoner's dilemma oligopoly game
Jason Welker, Game Theory Intro The Prisoner's Dilemma as a Model for Oligopoly Behavior (YouTube)
Unit 2
Criminal Price-Fixing Investigations and Prosecutions
For additional supplemental materials, see 3. Criminal Price-Fixing Investigations and Prosecutions in AppliedAntitrust.com
Class 2
Tuesday, January 24
Elements of a Section 1 criminal violation
Sherman Act penalties
Obstruction of justice crimes (including 18 U.S.C. § 1001)
Class 2 reading guidance (replaced January 23, 2023)
Criminal Price-Fixing Prosecutions (class notes)
Revised Jan. 25, 2023--Corrected slide 30
Generally
± Antitrust Division Criminal Enforcement web page
Charles Doyle, Cong. Res. Serv., Corporate Criminal Liability: An Overview of Federal Law (Oct. 30, 2013)
± Brandon L. Garrett, The Metamorphosis of Corporate Criminal Prosecutions, 101 Va. L. Rev. Online 60 (2015)
± Donald I. Baker, To Indict or Not to Indict: Prosecutorial Discretion in Sherman Act Enforcement, 63 Cornell L. Rev. 405 (1978).
Class 3
Tuesday, January 31
DOJ leniency policy
ACPERA
Indictments and informations
Criminal complaints and arrest warrants
Criminal Price-Fixing Prosecutions (class notes)
Revised Jan. 25, 2023--Corrected slide 30
DOJ leniency policy
U.S. Dept' of Justice, Antitrust Div., Frequently Asked Questions About the Antitrust Division’s Leniency Program (rev. Apr. 4, 2022)
ATD Model Corporate Conditional Leniency Letter (rev. Apr. 4, 2022)
ATD Model Individual Conditional Leniency Letter (rev. Apr. 4, 2022)
ATD Model Dual Investigations Conditional Leniency Letter (rev. Apr. 4, 2022)
Richard A. Powers, Dep. Ass't Att'y Gen. Antitrust Div., U.S. Dep't of Justice, A Matter of Trust: Enduring Leniency Lessons for the Future of Cartel Enforcement, Remarks as Prepared for Delivery at the 13th International Cartel Workshop, San Francisco, CA (Feb. 19, 2020)
Jonathan S. Kanter, Ass’t Att’y Gen., Antitrust Div., U.S. Dep't of Justice, Opening Remarks at 2022 Spring Enforcers Summit, Washington, DC (Apr. 4, 2022)
± Joan-Ramon Borrell, Carmen García, Juan Luis Jiménez & José Manuel Ordóñez-de-Haro, Cartel Destabilization Effect of Leniency Programs (AQR–Working Paper No. AQR22/08, 2022).
Donald C. Klawiter, A Really New Leniency Program: A Positive, Cooperative, and Enthusiastic Partnership for Effective Antitrust Enforcement, Antitrust, Summer 2022, at 52
Spotlight on Leniency Programs, in OECD Competition Trends 2022
Robert B. Bell & Kristin Millay, The Corporate Leniency Program: Did the Antitrust Division Kill the Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs?, Antitrust, Fall 2018, at 80.
Class 4
Tuesday, February 7
Pleas and plea agreements
Criminal sentencing
Criminal appeals
Class 4 reading guidance (rev. Feb. 2, 2023)
Criminal Price-Fixing Prosecutions (class notes)
Revised Jan. 25, 2023--Corrected slide 30
Plea agreements
ATD Model Annotated Corporate Plea Agreement–11(c)(1)(B) (rev. Apr. 4, 2022)
ATD Model Annotated Corporate Plea Agreement–11(c)(1)(C) (rev. Apr. 4, 2022)
ATD Model Annotated Individual Plea Agreement (rev. Dec. 31, 2018)
Compliance programs
U.S. Dep't of Justice, Antitrust Div., Competition Compliance Programmes–Note by the United States (OECD submission June 8, 2021)
U.S. Dep't of Justice, Antitrust Div., Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs in Criminal Antitrust Investigations (July 2019)
Makan Delrahim, Ass't Att'y Gen., Antitrust Div., Wind of Change: A New Model for Incentivizing Antitrust Compliance Programs, Remarks at the New York University School of Law Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement, New York, NY (July 11, 2019)
± Sullivan & Cromwell, DOJ Issues Guidance on the Evaluation of Antitrust Compliance Programs (July 15, 2019)
Sentencing Guidelines
U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual (U.S. Sentencing Comm'n 2021) (± web page)
U.S. Dep't of Justice, Antitrust Div., Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs in Criminal Antitrust Investigations (July 2019)
U.S. Dep't of Justice Sentencing Memorandum, United States v. Zito, No. 1:22-cr-00113-SPW (D. Mont. Feb. 10, 2023) (attempted monopolization)
Defendant’s Sentencing Memorandum, United States v. Zito, No. 1:22-cr-00113-SPW (D. Mont. Feb. 10, 2023)
Unit 3
The Private Cause of Action
For additional supplemental materials, see 4. The Private Cause of Action in AppliedAntitrust.com
Class 5
Thursday, February 9
The Private Cause of Action (class notes)
Class 6
Tuesday, February 14
The Private Cause of Action (class notes)
NO CLASS
Tuesday, February 21
NO CLASS--Legislative Monday
Class 7
Tuesday, February 28
The Private Cause of Action (class notes)
NO CLASS
Tuesday, March 7
ALREADY HAD MAKEUP CLASS
NO CLASS
Tuesday, March 14
SPRING BREAK
Unit 4
Antitrust Class Actions
For additional supplemental materials, see 5. Antitrust Class Actions in AppliedAntitrust.com
Class 8
Tuesday, March 21
Antitrust Class Actions (class notes)
Manual for Complex Litigation (Fourth) (Fed. Jud. Ctr. 2004)
Note: Thomson Reuters publishes an annotated version of the manual (available online through the library)
Leading treatise: William B. Rubenstein, Alba Conte & Herbbert B. Newberg, Newburg on Class Actions (available online through the library).
Class 9
Tuesday, March 28
Antitrust Class Actions (class notes)
Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, No. 11-864 (U.S. Mar. 27, 2012) (reported at 569 U.S. 27 (2012) (see here for case materials)
Class 10
Tuesday, April 4
Antitrust Class Actions (class notes)
For the significant documents in the Bus Tour litigation, see here
Order and Final Judgment Approving In re NYC Bus Tour Antitrust Litigation Class Action Settlement (Oct. 21, 2014)
Fairness Hearing transcript (Oct. 20, 2014)
Unit 5
Dispositive Motions: Proving Conspiracy
For additional supplemental materials, see 6. Conspiracy in AppliedAntitrust.com
Class 11
Tuesday, April 11
Proving Conspiracy/Dispositive Motions (class notes)
Unit 6
DOJ/FTC Merger Review
For additional supplemental materials, see 13. DOJ/FTC Merger Review and Settlement Procedures in AppliedAntitrust.com
Class 12
Tuesday, April 18
The DOJ/FTC Merger Review Process (class notes)
Fed. Trade Comm'n, Model Second Request (rev. Oct. 2021)
Unit 7
Merger Litigation and Settlement
For additional supplemental materials, see 14. Merger Antitrust Litigation in AppliedAntitrust.com
Class 13
Tuesday, April 25
Merger Antitrust Litigation and Settlement (class notes)
Seminar Paper Due Dates
Wednesday, February 1
Need approval of question to be addressed on or before this date
Wednesday, February 8
First draft of introduction; identify key cases
Additional requirement for the 3-credit course: Outline of paper
Monday, March 6
Second draft of introduction; first draft of section providing motivation and background for the question to be addressed
Additional requirement for the 3-credit course: Second draft of the outline of the paper
Wednesday, April 12
Complete first draft due
Tuesday, May 16
All final drafts are due
NB: You may email the papers directly to me. There is no need to go through the Registrar's Office.
Seminar Paper Materials
Seminar Papers: Getting Started
Thoughts on Persuasive Writing
Legal Research in Antitrust Law
± Research for Upper-Level Writing
Questions To Ask When Finalizing the Paper
± Knowadays, What Are Proofreading Marks? A Beginner’s Guide (May 2, 2020)