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Antitrust Law:
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.

Home page
Topical index
Case studies index

 

    I

 

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)

Class 1 reading guidance

Unit 1 reading materials

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)

Unit 2 reading materials

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

 

 

Class 3 reading guidance

Unit 2 reading materials

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)

Unit 2 reading materials

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)

Exhibit A

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

Class 5 reading guidance

Unit 3 reading materials

The Private Cause of Action (class notes)

 

Class 6

Tuesday, February 14

Class 6 reading guidance

Unit 3 reading materials

The Private Cause of Action (class notes)

 

NO CLASS

Tuesday, February 21

NO CLASS--Legislative Monday

 

Class 7

Tuesday, February 28

Class 7 reading guidance

Unit 3 reading materials

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

Class 8 reading guidance

Unit 4 reading materials

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

Class 9 reading guidance

Unit 4 reading materials

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

Class 10 reading guidance

Unit 4 reading materials

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

Class 11 reading guidance

Unit 5 reading materials

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

Class 12 reading guidance

Unit 6 reading materials

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

 

 

Class 13 reading guidance

Unit 7 reading materials

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

Common Mistakes

Questions To Ask When Finalizing the Paper

± Knowadays, What Are Proofreading Marks? A Beginner’s Guide (May 2, 2020)