Our Curious Amalgam

On January 10, the Federal Trade Commissions and the Department of Justice released Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines. In this Breaking News Special, ABA Antitrust Law Section Mergers Committee Co-Chairs Michael Keeley and Joanna Tsai join hosts John Roberti and Sergei Zaslavsky to share their initial reactions to the Guidelines. Listen to this episode to learn about vertical theories of harm, quas...

Are prescription drug prices too high and can antitrust and competition law be used to regulate the "right" price? NYU professor Harry First and Lauren Rackow will talk to John Roberti and Ricardo Woolery about the recent trend of increasing prescription drug prices, whether the "right" price exists, and whether antitrust and competition law have tools to regulate these prices. Listen to this epis...

The U.S. Supreme Court is no stranger to antitrust law. Jaime Santos, a partner in Goodwin Procter's appellate group, joins Christina Ma and John Roberti to explore recent Supreme Court antitrust cases, including FTC v. Actavis, Ohio v. American Express, and Apple v. Pepper. Listen to this episode to learn more about how the changing Supreme Court bench is likely to impact antitrust cases in the y...

Social media is convenient and gets people connected, but how can the legal profession use it effectively, and for what purposes? Should lawyers try to be influencers? Marketing professionals Nancy Myrland & Valentina Escobar-Gonzalez speak to John Roberti and Anora Wang about how lawyers, economists, and scholars alike can use social media in personal branding, reaching out to desired audiences,...

U.S. law involving the enforcement of vertical price restraints has softened in the last 10 years. But that does not mean that they are not traps that must be avoided. John David Evans, the chair of the Pricing Conduct Committee at the Antitrust Law Section, speaks to John Roberti and Elyse Dorsey about where the lines are regarding companies enforcing pricing policies down the chain of distributi...

The European Commission has dramatically increased its level of competition law enforcement against vertical agreements. Distribution agreements have in particular been in the spotlight, but other arrangements such as licensing are also at risk. The focus is on ensuring that manufacturers and licensors do not unreasonably ban or restrict online selling and is replicated at national level in the EU...

There is a long history of competition law impacting sports, from the early days of the baseball exemption to the antitrust laws to present-day amateur athletic challenges. But how do these rules apply to e-gaming, which has many elements of physical sports but with other aspects thrown in? In this episode, Derek Ludwin and Alex Simon speak with John Roberti and Michele Lee about the competition l...

The amount of private antitrust litigation outside the U.S. continues to increase dramatically. This is no longer confined to the traditional jurisdictions of the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, but is now worldwide. Follow-on claims, which rely on a regulatory decision to prove an infringement, and stand-alone claims, where the infringement must be shown, are common. In the EU, virtually every c...

Developing a robust and effective corporate compliance program can be daunting. Given the sheer size of many enterprises, it is necessary to make choices about how to apply resources. Data can help companies to make good choices and also to make their compliance programs more effective by allowing for better modeling. In this episode, Liban Jama and Chris Wall speak with John Roberti and Wendy Hua...

In our "Three to Keep, Three to Change" series, we ask antitrust thought leaders a simple yet provocative question. What three things do you like about antitrust law and would keep, and what three things would you change? In this episode, Diana Moss--an economist, former regulator, and current President of the American Antitrust Institute--speaks with John Roberti and Tammy Zhu about the states' c...

Companies today are increasingly concerned with social responsibility issues, including environmental and supply chain labor, and trying to find ways to engage more responsibly. What are the antitrust lines they should watch out for if they want to pursue industry-wide solutions? Melissa Maxman, partner at Cohen & Gresser and chair of the Antitrust Law Section's Exemptions and Immunities Committee...

Whether antitrust enforcement against Big Tech is sufficient has been a hot topic in the antitrust world and on Capitol Hill. In this episode, Hal Varian, an industrial organization and information economics scholar and the Chief Economist at Google, speaks with John Roberti and Sergei Zaslavsky about popular attitudes toward Big Tech, the evidence that populist critics of Big Tech may be overlook...

In our "Three to Keep, Three to Change" series, we ask antitrust thought leaders a simple yet provocative question. What three things do you like about antitrust law and would keep, and what three things would you change? In this episode, law and economics scholar and former FTC Commissioner Josh Wright speaks with John Roberti and Sergei Zaslavsky about independent economic analysis at the FTC, m...

Corporate criminal investigations can be enterprise threatening due to the significant fines, criminal prosecution of company executives, and potential follow-on litigation. For years, companies have invested in corporate compliance programs and now are evaluating the effectiveness of these programs in light of new DOJ guidance. In this episode, Richard Powers and Eyitayo ("Tee") St. Matthew-Danie...

How do advertising investigations come to be and how can they be prevented? Our guest, Chris Cole, is an expert in advertising law and has helped numerous companies get through these investigations. Chris will talk to John Roberti and Ricardo Woolery about the different types of investigations and how they come to be. Listen to this episode to learn more about the different types of advertising in...

One of the highest stake antitrust cases are merger trials. Katrina Robson speaks with John Roberti and Anora Wang about putting together the evidence and telling a compelling story in merger trials, and what makes a difference. In merger trials, putting together the evidence and telling a compelling story is critical. Our guest, Katrina Robson, has been involved in a number of merger trials. In t...

In criminal cartel actions, individual executives face prosecution and potential jail time. Defending whose life and liberty are at stake in these matters creates unique challenges. Former prosecutor Doug Tween speaks with John Roberti and Wendy Huang Waszmer about the strategy and psychology necessary to defend individual defendants when everything in their lives is in jeopardy. Hosted by: John R...

A discussion of the increasing impact of Chinese companies on the EU and worldwide and how if at all EU competition law should adapt to take this into account. Can and should EU competition law react to the rise of China? Our guest, Georgios Petropoulos, is an economist who has written extensively on the role of competition law in ensuring fair competition. In this episode, Georgios speaks with Jo...

Where do plaintiffs get the information they put into their pleadings? Melinda Coolidge, a leading lawyer who represents plaintiffs, will explain how she researches, develops and diligences antitrust complaints. Private enforcement plays an important role in antitrust law, and private enforcement starts with the complaint. Our guest is leading plaintiffs' lawyer Melinda Coolidge, who has developed...

How can you tell if a review is truly genuine? Learn about who is regulating online reviews and influencers, and how these regulations affect what you see online. Lauren Aronson, an expert in the regulation of online reviews and influencers, speaks with John Roberti and Elyse Dorsey about these issues. We all read – and often rely on – online reviews. But how can you tell if a review is truly genu...

The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation into Amazon in order to assess whether its use of data from independent retailers who sell on its marketplace is in breach of EU competition rules. This raises interesting issues about the intersection of competition law and data collection issues. What precisely are the potential concerns and what are the wider implications? Host...

In the past 30 years, antitrust regimes have been widely adopted around the world. Our guest, Randy Tritell, is the Director of the Office of International Affairs at the Federal Trade Commission. In this episode, Randy talks with John Roberti and Ricardo Woolery about the growth of antitrust internationally. Randy will explain how the agencies around the world work together and share information...

Merger control is one of the most high-profile areas of antitrust law, but jargon can all too easily obscure the key issues in this domain. Our guest, ABA Antitrust Section Merger Committee Co-Chair Mike Keeley, is an expert in getting mergers cleared by the antitrust agencies. In this episode, Mike talks with John Roberti and Sergei Zaslavsky about the process and substance of shepherding a merge...

Privacy law is developing quickly in the United States and is becoming all the more important with the development of California's Privacy Law. Our guest, Alysa Hutnik, is the Consumer Protection Officer for the Antitrust Section and an expert on privacy law. In this episode, Alysa speaks with John Roberti and Anora Wang about privacy law generally and California's new privacy law, its substance a...

Companies and individuals in criminal cartels can avoid prosecution if they self-report to the leniency program at the U.S. Department of Justice. While this program has been hugely successful in cracking cartels for decades, a number of reports suggest that leniency applications and large-scale investigations are down overall. Our guests, Lisa Phelan and Craig Lee, are former prosecutors who have...