Text: Sullivan & Hovenkamp, Antitrust Law, Policy, and Procedure : Cases, Materials, Problems (LexisNexis) 5th edition, and supplement. (Supplement available in print or online from <http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/class/publications/#Antitrust>.)
March 3, 2007
Professor Seltzer
Spring 2008
http://wendy.seltzer.org/neu/antitrust/
Welcome to Antitrust Law.
Introduction
General. This course will examine select topics in United States antitrust law. Given the lawâs vast scope, and the limitations of our time, we cannot possibly cover all of antitrust law. I have opted for depth rather than breadth, and have attempted to emphasize those areas (such as merger analysis) that you are most likely to encounter in practice. We will cover horizontal and vertical restraints in somewhat less detail.
The plan set forth below is ambitious and frequently involves significant amounts of reading, in part because Supreme Court antitrust cases can be long. This suggests two things: first, you should make sure that you are ready to make the commitment required for this course; and second, you should plan your reading ahead of time. In some instances, for example, the reading will be relatively light one day and heavy the next because of the breakdown in cases.
The syllabus may be updated as the quarter progresses. The version online, at <http://wendy.seltzer.org/neu/antitrust/syllabus.html> is authoritative.
That said, assuming you are prepared for the time commitment, you should not feel unduly intimidated by the subject matter of the course. Those of you with no economics background may recoil at the first day of reading, with its graphs of supply and demand curves, but donât worry: this course assumes no economics background, and we will work through those graphs until you understand them. The graphs, moreover, are intended to illustrate just a few fundamental economic principles that are foundational to antitrust analysis; after we have explored them, we will move on into the more familiar territory of case law, which is the core focus of the class.
Evaluations. Your evaluation will be based primarily on your performance on a 3-hour, in-class final exam. In addition to the exam, each student will be responsible for representing ccertain parties during the quarter and for advocating their position during class. You are expected to be prepared for these assignments, and if you do not attend class on your assigned day -- or if you are clearly unprepared -- your evaluation will reflect that fact. (However, you will not be penalized if you have done the reading but have trouble with the content of the discussion). Evaluations will also reflect particularly strong contributions to class discussion.
Casebook. The casebook is Sullivan & Hovenkamp, Antitrust Law, Policy and Procedure: Cases, Materials, Problems (fifth edition, 2003). The Supplement is available in print or online at http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/study/texts/pdf/002-03012S_Supp.pdf (identified as "Supp." in the syllabus).
Other resources. The most comprehensive antitrust treatise, to which courts and litigants turn with regularity, is P. Areeda & H. Hovemkamp, Antitrust Law (Little Brown & Co.). It is a very thorough, highly theoretical work that is most useful if you want to do some additional digging into the theories that we study in class. If you are looking for a somewhat more pedestrian and user-friendly resource, try the ABA Section on Antitrust Law, Antitrust Law Developments, or E. Thomas Sullivan & Jeffrey L. Harrison, Understanding Antitrust Law and its Economic Implications (Lexis/Nexis 2003).
1-17, 26-29
Introduction to Antitrust Economics
43-63 (there are errors in a couple of the graphs; substitute graphs at Supp. 3-4 for the graphs on pp. 55 and 57)
II. Monopoly
593-621 (including American Can & Alcoa)
Market Definition:
1061-72 (DOJ/FTC Merger Guidelines; read through 1.322)
621-644 (including DuPont (Cellophane), Telex v. IBM, & probs); Supp. 113-114
III. Vertical Restraints
Microsoft
IV. Mergers
827-841 (including Brown Shoe & Philadelphia Bank)
Merger Guidelines & Judicial Response
1061-86 (Merger Guidelines)
849-864 (including Staples & note on HHI)
793-818 (including Columbia Steel, DuPont, Brown Shoe, and Silicon-Graphics)
187-190
Price fixing
190-201 (including Chicago Board of Trade; Trenton Potteries; Appalachian Coals)
Rule of Reason
236-242 (Engineers)
254-272 (including Maricopa County, NCAA); Supp. 32 (note 10)
Supp. 37-44 (including Dagher)
290-292 (we will discuss Problems 4.3 and 4.6 only)
Conscious Parallelism & Interstate Circuit Doctrine
292-300 (Interstate Circuit, Theatre Enterprise) (**before reading Interstate Circuit), note correction to p. 294, at Supp. 45)
Oligopoly Pricing and Facilitating Devices
310-322 (Du Pont)
360-379 (Topco, Polk Bros.)
Boycotts & Other Concerted Refusals to Deal
379-398 (Eastern States, Klor's, Nynex, Paramount Famous Lasky,)
Last updated: 4/28/08