Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association

Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association
Name	Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association
Formation	1936
Type	Section of a professional association
Headquarters	Chicago, Illinois
Region served	United States; international membership
Parent organization	American Bar Association

Contents

Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association is a professional section within the American Bar Association devoted to competition law and policy. The Section convenes practitioners, judges, academics, and regulators from institutions such as the United States Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the European Commission, and law firms in cities like New York City, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. It engages with landmark matters involving statutes including the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Clayton Antitrust Act, and international instruments such as the Treaty of Lisbon through conferences, policy reports, and continuing legal education.

History

Founded in the interwar period, the Section traces roots to debates that followed cases like Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States and United States v. American Tobacco Co. and legislative reactions embodied in the Clayton Antitrust Act and later amendments. Over decades the Section intersected with major antitrust developments involving parties such as AT&T, Microsoft, IBM, Google, Apple Inc., and Facebook (now Meta Platforms, Inc.), and with enforcement shifts under administrations including those of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. The Section's institutional evolution paralleled academic contributions from figures at Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Stanford Law School, and the University of Chicago Law School and responded to global events like the expansion of the European Union and the rise of World Trade Organization dispute settlement.

Governance follows the American Bar Association model with an elected Chair, Council, and Officers. Leadership historically has included prominent litigators and scholars connected to institutions such as the D.C. Circuit, the Second Circuit, the Supreme Court of the United States, and regulatory agencies including the Federal Communications Commission. Committees coordinate with international bodies like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and national bars such as the Bar Council of England and Wales and the Canadian Bar Association. Governance documents reference precedent from cases like United States v. Microsoft Corp. and guidance from commissions including the European Commission Directorate-General for Competition.

Membership spans private practice lawyers from firms including Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and Latham & Watkins, in-house counsel at corporations such as Amazon (company), General Electric, and Procter & Gamble, academics from Columbia Law School, New York University School of Law, and judges from federal and state courts. Committees cover substantive areas: Mergers (responding to matters like United States v. United States Steel Corporation), Litigation (handling issues akin to Brown Shoe Co. v. United States), Intellectual Property (in contexts like eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C.), International (engaging with Council of Europe frameworks), and Health Care (relevant to FTC v. Actavis, Inc.). Task forces form around emergent topics tied to entities such as Tesla, Inc., Uber Technologies, Inc., and Bayer AG.

The Section organizes annual meetings, symposia, and continuing legal education accredited by bodies like the American Bar Association and state bars in jurisdictions including California, Texas, and New York (state). Programs often feature speakers from the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division, the Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Competition, academics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and international regulators from the European Commission and Competition and Markets Authority (United Kingdom). It collaborates with organizations such as the Cato Institute, the Brookings Institution, and the Heritage Foundation for panels on innovation and competition, and organizes workshops reflecting rulings such as United States v. Apple Inc..

The Section publishes books, reports, and periodicals, including titles and analyses that reference landmark decisions like Northern Pacific Railway Co. v. United States and scholarly work from journals at Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, and Columbia University. Its newsletters and monographs discuss antitrust doctrine tied to statutes such as the Sherman Antitrust Act and cases including United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. and Alcoa, United States v. Aluminum Co. of America. Research projects have partnered with centers at Stanford University, University of Chicago, and University of Pennsylvania to produce empirical studies on mergers involving companies like AT&T Inc. and Sprint Corporation.

The Section issues policy statements, comments, and amicus briefs in matters before tribunals such as the Supreme Court of the United States and agencies like the Federal Trade Commission and European Commission. Positions have addressed enforcement standards in contexts like vertical restraints exemplified by cases such as Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc. and merger analysis shaped by precedents like United States v. Philadelphia National Bank. The Section engages with legislators on bills in the United States Congress and dialogues with international counterparts including the Japanese Fair Trade Commission and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

The Section administers awards honoring contributions to competition law, recognizing individuals with careers at institutions like Georgetown University Law Center, University of Virginia School of Law, and firms such as Jones Day and Baker McKenzie. Awards highlight achievements comparable to lifetime work by figures associated with landmark litigation before the Supreme Court of the United States and impactful scholarship published in journals including the Yale Law Journal and the Harvard Law Review.

Category:American Bar Association sections Category:Antitrust law organizations