Author: Jarod Bona In 2007, the Supreme Court issued a bombshell of a case called Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, which caused both antitrust lawyers and civil procedure law professors to rethink how they go about their work. For those of you not obsessed with law or antitrust, Twombly changed the…
If you are the antitrust lawyer for a defendant in a class action, defeating class certification is a major victory—usually a complete victory, pending appeal. You can read a more complete description of the requirements for class certification in our article on the class action antitrust case of Comcast v.…
Author: Luis Blanquez Luis Blanquez is an antitrust attorney at Bona Law with fifteen years of competition experience in different jurisdictions within the European Union such as Spain, France, Belgium and the UK. You can read our article about the elements for monopolization under U.S. antitrust law here. We also…
I have written many briefs over the years, since graduating from Harvard Law School in 2001. I have also read many briefs, both practicing law and clerking for Judge James B. Loken on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (in Minneapolis). The quality and style of…
Update: As you may have heard, the Senate confirmed Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court. Read below for my thoughts on the confirmation process and Justice Gorsuch and antitrust. We have entered a Supreme-Court-Justice-Nomination season. These are always interesting times for lawyers, politicians, and real people. There are only…
I won’t hide the ball; I’ll just tell you the answer: Federal district courts deciding motions to dismiss an antitrust case too often apply the summary-judgment standard to conspiracy allegations, particularly when confronted with non-parallel-conduct cases. This isn’t scientific or empirical—it is my observation and is enough of an issue…
In early 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court held in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC that the “active state supervision” prong of the state-action immunity from antitrust liability test applied to state licensing boards controlled by market participants. You can read my analysis of the decision here.…
FTC Commissioner Joshua Wright recently announced his retirement from the FTC Commission to go back to George Mason University School of Law. But he did not go out quietly. Not only was he incredibly productive during his FTC tenure, but he left right after the Federal Trade Commission issued “Principles…
What is great about practicing antitrust law is that you take deep dives into the intricacies of different markets from the shelf space in drug stores for condoms—an actual case from several years ago—to insurance brokerage pricing to processed eggs and everything in between. There are, however, certain industries that…
It is easier to succeed in business without competition than with it. And if you are used to practicing your profession in a particular way, it is quite uncomfortable when new approaches develop that undercut your business. (As an aside, Aaron Gott and I just published an article for CIO…