American Antitrust Institute

American Antitrust Institute
Name	American Antitrust Institute
Formation	1998
Type	Nonprofit think tank
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Leader title	President
Leader name	Diane S. Katz

American Antitrust Institute is an independent nonprofit Washington-based think tank focused on antitrust law and competition policy. It produces research, advocacy, and education on issues related to merger control, monopolization, and antitrust litigation while engaging with policymakers, regulators, and litigants. The organization has influenced debates before bodies such as the Federal Trade Commission, the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division, and legislatures at the federal and state level.

History

The institute was founded in 1998 during a period of high-profile antitrust scrutiny that included cases against Microsoft Corporation and merger reviews involving AT&T Inc., WorldCom, and General Electric. Early activities paralleled major developments such as the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the aftermath of the 1997 European Union Merger Regulation debates over global merger enforcement. Founders and early affiliates included scholars and practitioners connected to institutions like Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, University of Chicago Law School, and law firms engaged in cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Over time the institute expanded its work amid rising attention from policymakers including members of the United States Congress, commissioners from the Federal Trade Commission, and officials from the European Commission.

Mission and Activities

The institute's stated mission emphasizes promoting competition, advocating for robust enforcement of Sherman Antitrust Act, and educating public audiences about market power and consumer welfare. It issues policy briefs, expert reports, and testimony for hearings before bodies such as the Senate Judiciary Committee, the House Judiciary Committee, and state attorney general offices like those of New York Attorney General and California Attorney General. Activities include organizing symposiums featuring speakers from Stanford Law School, Columbia Law School, Brookings Institution, American Bar Association, and consumer advocacy groups. The institute maintains scholar networks drawn from universities like MIT, University of Pennsylvania Law School, and University of Chicago and collaborates with regulatory agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission on competition-related matters.

Leadership and Organization

Leadership has combined legal scholars, former enforcement officials, and litigators with affiliations to institutions like Georgetown University Law Center, George Washington University Law School, and the New York University School of Law. Presidents and board members have included individuals with prior roles at the Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission, as well as academics who have taught at Harvard University, Princeton University, and University of California, Berkeley. The institute's advisory council has drawn from lawyers associated with firms like Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Covington & Burling, and Latham & Watkins as well as economists from National Bureau of Economic Research and think tanks including the Cato Institute and Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Policy Positions and Research

The institute publishes research on merger retrospectives, anticompetitive conduct, and vertical integration with citations to empirical work from centers such as the Brookings Institution and datasets used by scholars at Columbia Business School, Wharton School, and Stanford Graduate School of Business. It has taken positions in high-profile matters involving firms like Google LLC, Facebook, Inc. (now Meta Platforms, Inc.), Amazon.com, Inc., Apple Inc., and AT&T Inc. while engaging with enforcement trends exemplified by cases such as United States v. Microsoft Corp. and United States v. AT&T. Policy recommendations have included calls for stronger merger review consistent with precedents set by cases in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and scholarship published in journals like the Yale Law Journal and the Harvard Law Review. The institute's reports often address international coordination among agencies including the European Commission Directorate-General for Competition, Competition and Markets Authority, and Bundeskartellamt.

Litigation and Advocacy

The institute files amicus briefs and provides expert declarations in matters before the United States Supreme Court, federal appellate courts, and state courts, participating in litigation involving alleged monopolization under the Clayton Antitrust Act and Sherman Antitrust Act theories. It has submitted briefs in disputes related to platform regulation, vertical mergers, and pharmaceutical consolidation with parties including state attorneys general from jurisdictions like Texas Attorney General and Massachusetts Attorney General. The institute's advocacy has intersected with rulemaking proceedings at the Federal Trade Commission and has been cited in enforcement actions and consent decrees involving firms such as Time Warner and Visa Inc..

Funding and Partnerships

Funding sources have included foundation grants, academic partnerships, and contributions from individuals and institutions active in competition policy debates, with collaborations involving research centers at University of California, Berkeley, New York University, and Duke University. The institute partners with academic programs, public interest groups, and international agencies such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on workshops and comparative research. Its funding model and partnerships have occasionally drawn scrutiny in media outlets including coverage in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and specialist publications like Antitrust Law Journal.

Category:Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.