Antitrust Business Strategy

1.5 Credits · Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor

The antitrust laws of the United States, European Union, China and more than 100 other nations create powerful regulatory constraints on business activity. These laws have been enforced against many of the leading global companies – Microsoft, Intel, Google, Apple, Facebook, AT&T, IBM, and numerous others – challenging a wide array of business conduct, ranging from mergers to pricing strategies to allegations of abuse of dominance. This course provides the tools business leaders need to understand competition regulation and factor it into their business decisions. Students will gain an understanding of the fundamentals of antitrust law, economics and policy, including the broader political and economic factors that influence how these laws are applied around the world. We will then explore case studies that focus on key issues in greater depth. For each case, students will examine the nature of the challenged business conduct or strategy; the basis for the regulatory challenge; the outcome of the case and the regulatory risks the case illustrates; and strategies businesses can deploy to mitigate those risks while still advancing their business goals. We will also discuss current policy issues, including how competition policy has factored into the domestic political debate surrounding the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, and its role in international relationships such as those among the United States, European Union and China. The course is taught by an antitrust lawyer who previously served as antitrust counsel for a global company and who is also a former antitrust enforcer at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.