Our Curious Amalgam

Ten years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 5-3 decision in FTC v. Actavis, which held that the rule of reason should govern so-called "pay-for-delay" patent litigation settlement agreements between brand name and generic pharmaceutical manufacturers. In this episode, hosts Aaron Yeater and Alicia Downey talk to Kristen O'Shaughnessy and Dan Grossbaum about how the decision has shaped litigat...

Employment data is a critical component of the financial ecosystem—it's required documentation if you want to rent or buy a home, purchase a car, apply for a new job, or get a loan. As digital technology is transforming the manner in which payroll information is collected and leveraged, we're faced with important questions, the answers to which will shape the framework going forward. In this episo...

On July 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission issued the long-awaited draft Merger Guidelines. How should you approach the draft guidelines? The DOJ Antitrust Division's Deputy Assistant Attorney Generals Andy Forman and Michael Kades speak with Melissa Maxman and Anora Wang about the background, guiding principles, and some specific languag...

Antitrust cases are often complex and technical, which invites suspicion that such cases should be decided by specialists rather than generalist judges. Would a judge who is truly an antitrust expert think the same? The honorable Judge Douglas Ginsburg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, speaks with Melissa Maxman and Anora Wang with the utmost candor and (at times)...

Merger control and antitrust enforcement continues to expand around the world. Is MENA ahead of or behind the curve? Nicolas Bremer, partner at law firm Bremer, joins Matthew Hall and Jeny Maier to discuss developments in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Listen to this episode to learn more about merger control and antitrust rules in those jurisdictions and gain practical knowledge of how the regim...

The credit card industry has been the subject of increased antitrust scrutiny in recent years, even as consumer understanding of its inner workings remains low. But how did the American credit card system come to be, and are there changes for it on the horizon? Doug Kantor, General Counsel of the National Association of Convenience Stores, speaks with Christina Ma and Matt Reynolds about the histo...

The 2023 Annual Spring Meeting of the ABA Antitrust Law Section offered the Our Curious Amalgam team a chance to speak with competition law enforcers from around the world. In this episode, host Matthew Hall asks Olivier Guersent, Director-General of the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission (DG COMP), about what's been happening in the European Union since we interviewed...

The 2023 Annual Spring Meeting of the ABA Antitrust Law Section offered the Our Curious Amalgam team a chance to speak with international competition law enforcers from around the world. In this episode, we ask Matthew Boswell, Commissioner of the Canadian Competition Bureau, Alexandre Cordeiro Macedo, President of CADE in Brazil, and Dr. Chih-Min (Andy) Chen, Vice Chairperson of the Taiwan Fair T...

On April 14, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its unanimous opinion in Axon Enterprise, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission, holding that parties contesting the agency's constitutionality may commence immediate collateral challenges in federal court. Will this decision prompt a host new of challenges to the FTC's authority? In this episode, co-hosts Elyse Dorsey and Jana Seidl speak with Nandu Mac...

The current administration and leadership at the FTC, helmed by Chair Lina Khan, have been vocal about their desire to expand antitrust and consumer protection enforcement and to use all the tools in their enforcement and regulatory toolkit to address harms that they see as taking place across the economy. But are these new initiatives consistent with constitutional and administrative law principl...

Legal textbooks have always been expensive but these days, the cost of a new commercially-published antitrust law casebook can range from $300 to $500. What if a high-quality casebook were available at little or no cost? With the support of the ABA Antitrust Law Section, NYU Law School Professors Christopher Sprigman and Daniel Francis recently completed the world's first openly-licensed antitrust...

The 2023 Annual Spring Meeting of the ABA Antitrust Law Section offered the Our Curious Amalgam team a chance to speak with international competition law enforcers from around the world. In this episode, we ask Natalie Harsdorf-Borsch, acting director of the Austrian Federal Competition Authority, Laura Melusine Baudenbacher, president of the Swiss Competition Commission, and Šarūnas Keserauskas,...

Section 230 generally shields online platforms from liability for third-party content. It has been widely credited with enabling the growth of the internet, but to what extent does it apply to the latest disruptive technology --- generative AI? Jess Miers, Legal Advocacy Counsel at the Chamber of Progress, discusses the applicability of Section 230 to generative AI with hosts Christina Ma and Serg...

There are many debates in the antitrust world today, but none is as fundamental as the discussion over the core purpose of antitrust. Should antitrust law be solely concerned with economic efficiency, or is it also a tool for upholding and promoting our democratic political values? Spencer Waller, law professor at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and Geoffrey Manne, founder of the Inte...

The 2023 Annual Spring Meeting of the ABA Antitrust Law Section offered the Our Curious Amalgam team a chance to speak with international competition law enforcers from around the world, including Germany and Spain. In this episode, we ask Andreas Mundt, the president of the German Bundeskartellamt and Cani Fernández, the president of the Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission, about...

The 2023 Annual Spring Meeting of the ABA Antitrust Law Section offered the Our Curious Amalgam team a chance to speak with international competition law enforcers from around the world. In this episode--one in a series of episodes featuring interviews recorded live at the 2023 Spring Meeting--host Sergei Zaslavsky speaks with Willard Mwemba, the Director and CEO of the COMESA Competition Commissi...

The 2023 Annual Spring Meeting of the ABA Antitrust Law Section offered the Our Curious Amalgam team a chance to speak with international competition law enforcers from around the world. What are their enforcement priorities, what trends do they see on the horizon, and what should advocates with matters before their agencies do to be most effective? Discover the answers to these questions in this...

LIV Golf is the most serious threat the PGA has ever faced, and the fight between the two professional golf tours has grown increasingly personal and bitter. But is the PGA defending itself through illegal anticompetitive tactics? Michael McCann, one of the nation's foremost sports law experts and Kail Jethmalani join Anant Raut and Anora Wang to discuss the life of a professional golfer, what mak...

It seems that metaverses will soon be ubiquitous. What are the competition law issues? Dr. Yusuke Takamiya, the antitrust/competition law partner at Mori Hamada & Matsumoto, joins Matthew Hall and Anora Wang to discuss what metaverses are, how they are structured, the parallels with existing competition law analysis of technology markets and the specific issues raised by metaverses. Listen to this...

For 30 years, companies in healthcare and other industries have relied on agency guidance immunizing certain kinds of information exchanges with competitors. How does DOJ's recent withdrawal of these safe harbors change the landscape? Leslie Overton, former DOJ official and currently a partner at Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider, joins Sergei Zaslavsky and Jaclyn Phillips to discuss DOJ's policy change....

There are many ways to make a career engaging with competition law. Guest Mark Meador, Deputy Chief Counsel for Antitrust and Competition Policy to Senator Mike Lee, has forged a unique path working on and off the Hill. What exactly does antitrust counsel to a United States Senator do? Mark discusses the various functions of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and C...

European competition regulators are increasingly focused on sustainability agreements and have published guidance. What are these documents saying and are they consistent? Jay Modrall, Brussels-based competition lawyer, joins Matthew Hall and Aaron Yeater to discuss the current position in the EU and UK. Listen to this episode to learn more about the application of EU and UK competition law to sus...

Demand for diverse economists has exploded, but institutions still fail to recruit, retain, and promote women long term. Are issues of abuse and harassment deterring women from the field? In this episode, co-hosts Elyse Dorsey and Jana Seidl speak with Paola Valenti, Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia Business School, and Kellie Kemp, Senior Counsel at Uber about the struggles women fa...

Drug prices are top of mind for numerous patients, legislators, policy experts, and antitrust enforcers these days. But what role do pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) play in determining the price and availability of drugs at the pharmacy counter, and why do PBMs find themselves in the middle of an FTC market study looking into their business practices? Join Alicia Downey and Jeny Maier as they tal...

Serving on the bench is a challenge and a privilege. For certain communities in our society, the path to the bench was a never traveled one until recently. What are some of the most valuable experiences that have prepared a judge for the bench? The honorable Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers speaks with Melissa Maxman and Anora Wang on her professional experiences including prior private practice and s...