Antitrust is a dynamic area of law subject to rapid change. It is highly sensitive to the attitudes of regulators and market conditions, always looking forward to how decisions made today will affect businesses and the lives of individual consumers. Current events — and passionate consumers, or fans — can incur “Swift” antitrust scrutiny, as Live Nation Entertainment discovered recently.¹ Yet it is inextricably linked to more abstract considerations.

The term “antitrust” is itself archaic, reflecting animosity to a business practice innovated by Standard Oil in 1882.² Understanding the history of antitrust actions often requires understanding something of history broadly and politics specifically.³ Finally, applying antitrust law requires some grasp of economic principles such as efficiency, market power, and network effects. One book on the subject begins with the line, “Perhaps no field of law is as dominated by economics as antitrust law.”⁴

With all this in mind, there is simply a lot that may be relevant when working on an antitrust or competition law problem. This column will attempt to point out some helpful resources for practitioners working in this field.

MAJOR TREATISES

As a subject area, antitrust enjoys a number of high-quality research references and guides — the resources highlighted below are by no means an exhaustive list. Compared to other areas of law, the problem is less whether there are resources to consult, but rather where to start.

When trying to zero in on the most relevant rules for an issue, sometimes beginning with a general reference tool can help you move on to more specialized resources. For example, the legal encyclopedia Michigan Civil Jurisprudence contains discussions of antitrust topics under a number of headings, including the interplay of state and federal laws.⁵

The leading treatise is the fifth edition of “Antitrust Law: An Analysis of Antitrust Principles and their Application” by Phillip E. Areeda and Herbert Hovenkamp. This fourteen-volume work is an authoritative and comprehensive treatment. Available electronically on the Lexis+ and VitalLaw databases, the cost of updating such an extensive series can make access prohibitive. Areeda and Hovenkamp also have a one-volume, practitioner-oriented guide keyed to their larger work that is less of an investment called “Fundamentals of Antitrust Law,” now in its fourth edition.

Approximately every five years, the Antitrust Law Section of the American Bar Association publishes “Antitrust Law Developments,” a two-volume set that aims to “state as objectively as possible the current state of the law and developments in the antitrust field.”⁶ The section also compiles a guide to state antitrust law, “State Antitrust Practice and Statutes,” published irregularly.⁷

PRIMARY SOURCES AND REPORTERS

Many major federal antitrust laws are found in Title 15 of the United States Code. Some of the more notable ones are:

• The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890,⁸
• The Clayton Act of 1914,⁹
• The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914.¹⁰

There are many other antitrust statutes specific to particular industries and situations, including at the state level, and there may be overlaps in application. Checking practice guides specific to the type of business or jurisdiction can help identify these instances. Other good sources of relevant rules are enforcement agencies. The Federal Trade Commission provides a list of antitrust statutes on its website.¹¹ Similarly, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division publishes guidance and policy statements under the public documents section of its website, including the recently updated merger guidelines.¹² Both agencies also maintain case portals that provide access to decisions and filings.¹³

“Trade Regulation Reporter” published by Wolters Kluwer is the longest running and most comprehensive topical reporter for antitrust, providing a looseleaf service for current developments and preserving significant decisions in bound volumes. Also available via the VitalLaw database, those without access to a current subscription can consult copies frequently held by academic law libraries. The University of Michigan Law Library’s print collection of the title ceased in 2013, but its coverage of reported cases extends back to 1932.¹⁴

STAYING CURRENT

There is no shortage of reporting on antitrust developments — nearly every major legal information platform offers current awareness tools for antitrust developments. However, most of these are behind a paywall of some sort. Legal blogs do not have this restriction.

The Antitrust Law Blog offers antitrust news and commentary from attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.¹⁵ Wolters Kluwer also sponsors a free page, AntitrustConnect.¹⁶ For a more academic perspective, Antitrust and Competition Policy Law Blog is a good option.¹⁷

An underutilized source of good antitrust information is the National Bureau of Economic Research. The NBER collection of antitrust materials is freely browsable and searchable online and offers industry-specific data and analysis.¹⁸ All users are entitled to three downloads of working papers annually, and free and low-cost subscription options are frequently available.

FURTHER RESOURCES

• Von Kalinowski et al, “Antitrust Laws and Trade Regulations” (2nd ed.) (Matthew Bender 2023, also available on Lexis+).
• Holmes, “Antitrust Law Handbook” (Thomson Reuters 2023, also available on Westlaw).
• ABA Antitrust Law Section, “Antitrust Law Journal” at www.americanbar.org/groups/antitrust_law/resources/journal/.
• SAGE Publications, “Antitrust Bulletin” at https://journals.sagepub.com/home/abx.
• New York Times, Antitrust Laws and Competition Issues, www.nytimes.com/topic/subject/antitrust-laws-and-competition-issues.