Case Development and Litigation Strategy (2025)
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 1.1 (rev. Dec. 27, 2024)
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, January 14
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
Introduction to Price Fixing:Legal and Economic Foundations (class notes)
Commentary
± Minhae Kim, Ryan Mansley, Nathan 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
Thursday, January 23
Elements of a Section 1 criminal violation
Sherman Act penalties
Obstruction of justice crimes (including 18 U.S.C. § 1001)
NB: This class meets on Thursday (unless we decide on a different day)
Criminal Price-Fixing Prosecutions (class notes)
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).
Background on the federal criminal justice system (primarily for LL.Ms who do not have a U.S. procedure background)
± United States Courts, Criminal Cases
± Offices of the United States Attorneys, U.S. Dep't of Justice, Justice 101
± Offices of the United States Attorneys, U.S. Dep't of Justice, Introduction to the Federal Court System
± Offices of the United States Attorneys, U.S. Dep't of Justice, Steps in the Federal Criminal Process
± Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dep't of Justice, What Is the Sequence of Events in the Criminal Justice System?
Class 3
Tuesday, January 28
DOJ leniency policy
ACPERA
Indictments and informations
Criminal complaints and arrest warrants
Criminal Price-Fixing Prosecutions (class notes)
DOJ leniency policy
± U.S. Dep't of Justice, Antitrust Div., Leniency Program web page
U.S. Dep't of Justice, Antitrust Div., Antitrust Division Leniency Policy and Procedures (updated Apr. 4, 2022)
± Paul Weiss, DOJ Antitrust Division Updates Leniency Policy, Highlighting Prompt Reporting Requirement (Apr. 6, 2022)
U.S. Dep't' of Justice, Antitrust Div., Frequently Asked Questions About the Antitrust Division’s Leniency Program (rev. Jan. 3, 2023)
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 4
Pleas and plea agreements
Criminal sentencing
Criminal Price-Fixing Prosecutions (class notes)
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., Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs in Criminal Antitrust Investigations (rev. Sept. 2024)
± Bilal Sayyed, Cadwalader, Corporate Compliance Programs: Updated DOJ Guidance in Antitrust Investigations (Dec. 18, 2024)
+ Freshfields, The Importance of Maintaining Effective Corporate Compliance Programs: Retaining Past Mechanisms and Reassessing After DOJ's Updated ECCP Guidance (Nov. 20, 2024)
U.S. Dep't of Justice, Antitrust Div., Competition Compliance Programmes–Note by the United States (OECD submission June 8, 2021)
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)
Sentencing Guidelines
U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual (U.S. Sentencing Comm'n 2024) (± web page)
Sentencing memoranda
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)
Commentary
John M. Connor & Robert H. Lande, How High Do Cartels Raise Prices-Implications for Optimal Cartel Fines, 80 Tul. L. Rev. 513 (2005).
Class 5
Tuesday, February 11
Criminal sentencing (con't)
Criminal appeals
Start private actions
Criminal Price-Fixing Prosecutions (class notes)
Case study on sentencing
Unit 3
The Private Cause of Action
For additional supplemental materials, see 4. The Private Cause of Action in AppliedAntitrust.com
Class 6
Tuesday, February 18
Class 7
Tuesday, February 25
NO CLASS
Tuesday, March 4
SPRING BREAK
Unit 4
Antitrust Class Actions
For additional supplemental materials, see 5. Antitrust Class Actions in AppliedAntitrust.com
Class 8
Tuesday, March 11
NB: We need to move the date of this class
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 & Herbert B. Newberg, Newburg on Class Actions (available online through the library).
Class 9
Tuesday, March 18
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, March 25
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 1
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 8
Merger Antitrust Law Unit 2: Predicting Merger Antitrust Law Challenges (2023)
± Dechert LLP, New Hart-Scott-Rodino Proposal Signals Sea Change in U.S. Merger Review Process That Will Delay Transactions and Raise Costs (July 5, 2023)
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 and in AppliedAntitrust.com
Class 13
Tuesday, April 15
Seminar Paper Due Dates
Important: All submissions should be in Microsoft Word so that I can use track changes and comments. Do not send me a PDF.
Wednesday, January 29
Need approval of question to be addressed on or before this date
Wednesday, February 5
First draft of introduction; identify key cases
Additional requirement for the 3-credit course: Outline of paper
Wednesday, February 26
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 2
Complete first draft due
Monday, May 5
All final drafts are due
NB: You should email the papers directly to me. Do not send your paper through the Registrar's Office.
Seminar Paper Materials
Seminar Papers: Paper Topics (rev. Jan. 24, 2024)
If you are interested, here is a somewhat dated list of paper topics that I prepared when I was teaching at NYU.
Writing the Introduction to a Reasoned Memorandum of Law (rev. Feb. 1, 2024)
Sample: Two-credit reasoned memorandum of law
This memo was written in 2014, so that it is somewhat outdated. However, the form is excellent.
Writing the Introduction of a Law Review Article (Feb. 3, 2024)
Sample: Three-credit law review article
Legal Research in Antitrust Law (Jan. 21, 2024)
± Research for Upper-Level Writing
Bluebook Citation Forms
Thoughts on Persuasive Writing (Jan. 21, 2024)
Common Mistakes (Jan. 21, 2024)
Questions To Ask When Finalizing the Paper (Jan. 21, 2024)
± Knowadays, What Are Proofreading Marks? A Beginner’s Guide (May 2, 2020)
Also, be sure you are familiar with the Georgetown Writing Center Guides and Handouts