Institute of Competition Law

Last updated

Institute of Competition Law (French : Institut de droit de la concurrence) is a think tank focused on bringing together government regulators, private practitioners, and academics to study and shape antitrust policy on an international scale. [1]

Contents

The Institute seeks to foster discussion about antitrust or competition law and law & economics by producing antitrust publications and hosting related conferences and events. [1] The institute's publications include the Concurrences journal, the e-Competitions Bulletin, and a series of books. [2] To encourage written scholarship, the Institute holds an annual writing competition and honors authors for well-written pieces in the area of antitrust and law & economics at the Antitrust Writing Awards. [3] In addition to written works, the Institute holds frequent events, including an annual conference and topical seminars, to discuss pressing issues in antitrust. [1]

About the Institute

After practicing competition law for many years, Nicolas Charbit founded the Institute in 2004 and currently serves as its CEO. [1] The organization maintains offices in Paris, France, London and New York City.

The Institute seeks to create an independent, objective platform for the development and discussion of antitrust law, economics, and government regulation of competition. [1] The institute works to maintain a balanced perspective by implementing editorial boards and scientific or steering committees to oversee each of its publications and events. [1] These boards and committees are made up of international competition law experts coming from the government, private practice, and academia. [1] Such antitrust figures, including William Kovacic, Mario Monti, and Frédéric Jenny, serve on boards and committees for the institute. [1]

Concurrences

Concurrences is a quarterly peer-reviewed journal that is released in print and online to discuss national and European Union competition laws. [4] The journal serves as a written forum for individuals in academia and private practice to analyze antitrust issues. [5] In addition, representatives of the journal have interviewed influential figures in competition law, including François Hollande, Christine Lagarde, and Nicolas Sarkozy. [6] Since its inception, Concurrences has published approximately 14,000 articles from 1,000 authors. [4] One-quarter of these articles are printed in English. The remaining three-quarters are printed in French, as French is the official language of the European Union General Court. [4] All articles are accompanied by an abstract in English. [4]

A scientific committee establishes strict editing and peer review requirements that an article must satisfy in order to be published. [1] Concurrences also categorizes each article into one of ten different formats, which signals to the reader the type of article that he/she is reading, particularly whether an article is academic or opinion in nature. [1] The ten article formats are as follows: (1) forewords (pure opinion pieces); (2) interviews of experts; (3) trends (several short articles on a current pressing issue in antitrust); (4) law & economics (short papers by economists); (5) doctrines (longer academic papers); (6) case summaries (short analyses of recent antitrust cases); (7) legal practice (pieces for in-house counsel); (8) international (papers devoted to international antitrust policy); (9) book reviews (of longer antitrust works); and (10) article reviews (of prominent antitrust articles). [4] The Scientific Committee seeks to strike a balance between academic and opinion pieces and, thus, includes an article from most, if not all, of the ten formats in each issue. [4]

E-Competitions Bulletin

The e-Competitions Bulletin is an online database of antitrust case summaries from 55 jurisdictions, including the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. [7] The goal of e-Competitions is to encourage direct comparison of antitrust case law and regulations across nations. [7] Each summary includes the following: key words to make it more easily searchable, the relevant law or regulation at issue, and a link to the full, original decision in a case or the original wording of a regulation. [7] The e-Competitions database contains over 10,000 case summaries with contributions from 2,500 authors, hailing from academia, private practice, corporations, and the government. [8] [7] E-Competitions has received contributions from some antitrust figures, such as Claus-Dieter Ehlermann (former DG COMP Director General), William Kolasky (Hughes Hubbard & Reed), and Ian Forrester (White & Case), and has partnered with international law firms and 14 university research centers. [7] Like the Concurrences journal, e-Competitions is led by a diverse advisory board and editorial board. [9] [7]

Books

The Institute publishes two series of books, the e-Competitions series and the Concurrences series. [10] Each year, the e-Competitions series includes a Competition Digest and a Liber amicorum , also known as a Festschrift , being a book that honors a well-respected figure in the field of antitrust. It consists of articles contributed by the individual's close friends and colleagues. [10] [11] The Concurrences series publishes multiple works, including a compilation of speeches and discussions from the institute's conferences, the thesis chosen for the Concurrences Award, and books written by academics and attorneys in private practice. [10] [12]

After publishing the Concurrences journal for ten years, the Institute released Why Antitrust?, a book featuring 100 short articles by both experts and non-experts of antitrust and law and economics, including contributions from Joaquín Almunia (former EU Commissioner), Arnaud Montebourg (former Minister of the Economics), and Jean-Louis Debré (President of the Constitutional Council). [13]

Antitrust writing awards

The Antitrust Writing Awards aim to encourage scholarship in the areas of antitrust and law & economics by honoring excellent written pieces in the field. [3] Awards are given in two separate categories, academic articles and business articles. [3] Articles qualify for the academic category if they have been published in an academic journal during the last year. [3] Alternatively, articles are eligible for a business award if they have appeared in a professional magazine or newsletter in the previous year. [3] For each category, academic and business, the Institute awards the best article in each of the following eight substantive areas: (1) general topics (including articles on antitrust procedure); (2) anticompetitive practices; (3) unilateral conduct; (4) mergers; (5) intellectual property; (6) private enforcement; (7) Asian antitrust; and (8) economics. [3] The awards are announced at an annual gala, taking place the first night before the American Bar Association Annual Antitrust Spring Meeting. [14]

All articles are subjected to an international peer review process and vetted by a steering committee before being considered for an award. [15] The Institute assembles separate steering committees to review academic and business articles. [16] The Academic Steering Committee is made up of 18 antitrust figures in academia, and the Business Steering Committee is composed of 22 in-house counsels with antitrust expertise. [15] After each steering committee narrows down the pool of articles, the Board chooses the winners in both the academic and business categories. [15] The Board includes some of the most distinguished individuals in the fields of antitrust and law & economics: Douglas Ginsburg, Andreas Mundt, Howard Shelanski, and Joshua Wright. [15]

Conferences

The institute hosts a series of conferences and events each year to encourage scholars, regulators, and practitioners to discuss antitrust policy in person. [1] The biggest event put on by the institute is its annual conference called New Frontiers of Antitrust. [1] The event is held in Paris at the National Assembly or the Ministry of Economics with the EU Commissioner delivering the opening speech. [1] Regular speakers include Wouter Wills (EU Hearing Officer), William Kovacic (George Washington University), Bruno Lasserre (Autorité de la concurrence), and Laurence Idot (University Panthéon-Sorbonne). [17] The institute also organizes events specifically to enlighten in-house counsel about antitrust-related topics. [1] To that end, the Institute holds 10 seminars on the topic of industrial economics and 10 seminars on antitrust law procedures over the course of a year. [1] The institute also arranges for dinners where government enforcers, private practitioners, and in-house counsel can discuss antitrust issues. [1]

Related Research Articles

The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 is a United States federal law which established the Federal Trade Commission. The Act was signed into law by US President Woodrow Wilson in 1914 and outlaws unfair methods of competition and unfair acts or practices that affect commerce.

The Robinson–Patman Act (RPA) of 1936 is a United States federal law that prohibits anticompetitive practices by producers, specifically price discrimination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States antitrust law</span> American legal system intended to promote competition among businesses

In the United States, antitrust law is a collection of mostly federal laws that regulate the conduct and organization of businesses in order to promote competition and prevent unjustified monopolies. The three main U.S. antitrust statutes are the Sherman Act of 1890, the Clayton Act of 1914, and the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914. These acts serve three major functions. First, Section 1 of the Sherman Act prohibits price fixing and the operation of cartels, and prohibits other collusive practices that unreasonably restrain trade. Second, Section 7 of the Clayton Act restricts the mergers and acquisitions of organizations that may substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly. Third, Section 2 of the Sherman Act prohibits monopolization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Trade Commission</span> United States government agency

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction over federal civil antitrust law enforcement with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. The agency is headquartered in the Federal Trade Commission Building in Washington, DC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine A. Varney</span> American lawyer (born 1955)

Christine A. Varney is an American antitrust attorney who served as the U.S. assistant attorney general of the Antitrust Division for the Obama Administration and as a Federal Trade commissioner in the Clinton Administration. Since August 2011, Varney has been a partner of the New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where she chairs the antitrust department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Rausser</span> American economist

Gordon Rausser is an American economist. He is currently the Robert Gordon Sproul Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Dean Emeritus, at Rausser College of Natural Resources and more recently, a professor of the graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley. On three separate occasions, he served as chairman of the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics, served two terms as Dean of the Rausser College of Natural Resources, and has served on the board of trustees of public universities and one private university. Rausser has been appointed to more than 20 board of directors of both private and publicly traded companies, including chairman of several of such boards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Calvani</span>

Terry Calvani is a lawyer, former government official and university professor. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, he served one term as Commissioner of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. He was also a Member of the governing board of the Competition Authority of Ireland, where he held the criminal investigations portfolio. He has taught antitrust law at Vanderbilt University School of Law, Duke University School of Law, the Harvard Law School, Trinity College Dublin, Cornell Law School, Columbia Law School and University of California, Hastings College of Law. He retired from the practice of antitrust law with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in April 2019. He is currently a senior advisor to Brunswick Group LLC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deborah Platt Majoras</span>

Deborah Platt Majoras is the former chair of the Federal Trade Commission, appointed May 11, 2004, by President George W. Bush and sworn in on August 16, 2004. President Bush had announced his intention to appoint her to the position on July 30, 2004. Majoras is a member of the Republican Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Kovacic</span> American legal scholar

William Evan Kovacic is an American legal scholar who served as a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from 2006 to 2011, including as its chairman from 2008 to 2009. He is a member of the Republican Party.

<i>Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. v. Intel Corp.</i> Private antitrust lawsuit

AMD v. Intel was a private antitrust lawsuit, filed in the United States by Advanced Micro Devices ("AMD") against Intel Corporation in June 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Hazlett</span> American economist (born 1952)

Thomas W. Hazlett is the Hugh H. Macaulay Endowed Professor of Economics in the John E. Walker Department of Economics at Clemson University where he also directs the Information Economy Project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. Thomas Rosch</span>

John Thomas Rosch was an American lawyer and former Commissioner of the United States Federal Trade Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies</span>

The Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies is a non-partisan, independent academic center designed to explore the impact of antitrust enforcement on the individual consumer and public, and to shape policy issues. It is located at Loyola University Chicago School of Law in Chicago, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua D. Wright</span> American economist

Joshua Daniel Wright is an American economist and legal scholar who served as a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from 2013 to 2015. At the time of his nomination, Wright was the fourth economist to serve as a commissioner of the FTC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of United States antitrust law</span>

The history of United States antitrust law is generally taken to begin with the Sherman Antitrust Act 1890, although some form of policy to regulate competition in the market economy has existed throughout the common law's history. Although "trust" had a technical legal meaning, the word was commonly used to denote big business, especially a large, growing manufacturing conglomerate of the sort that suddenly emerged in great numbers in the 1880s and 1890s. The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 began a shift towards federal rather than state regulation of big business. It was followed by the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, the Clayton Antitrust Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914, the Robinson-Patman Act of 1936, and the Celler-Kefauver Act of 1950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Whelan (lawyer)</span>

Peter Whelan is a professor of law at the School of Law, University of Leeds. A qualified New York Attorney-at-Law, Whelan conducts research in competition (antitrust) law and criminal law. He published the first full-length monograph on the criminal enforcement of competition law with Oxford University Press.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lina Khan</span> American legal scholar and jurist (born 1989)

Lina M. Khan is a British-born American legal scholar serving as chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) since 2021. She is also an associate professor of law at Columbia Law School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Brandeis movement</span> American academic and political movement

The New Brandeis or neo-Brandeis movement is an antitrust academic and political movement in the United States which argues that excessively centralized private power is dangerous for economical, political and social reasons. Initially called hipster antitrust by its detractors, as also referred to as the "Columbia school" or "Neo-Progressive antitrust," the movement advocates that United States antitrust law return to a broader concern with private power and its negative effects on market competition, income inequality, consumer rights, unemployment, and wage growth.

Thomas Barrett Leary was an American attorney who served as a member of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from November 17, 1999 until his resignation from the body December 31, 2005.

George Warren Douglas was an American economist who served as a member of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from December 27, 1982, until September 18, 1985. Though a member of the Democratic Party, Douglas was widely known as a conservative economist, and was known as a supporter of President Ronald Reagan's economic agenda.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "Institute". Institute of Competition Law. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  2. ↑ See "Legal Publishers". LegiFrance. Retrieved 11 January 2015. (naming the Institute as a source of information for law & economics and related regulation by the French governmental entity responsible for publishing legal texts online).
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "What are the Antitrust Writing Awards?". Antitrust Writing Awards. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "What is Concurrences?". Institute of Competition Law. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  5. ↑ See, for example:
  6. ↑ Multiple references:
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "What is e-Competitions?". Institute of Competition Law. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  8. ↑ Note: Statistics as of October 1, 2014; see What is e-Competitions?.
  9. ↑ id. (see testimonials at What is e-Competitions?, Institute of Competition Law website).
  10. 1 2 3 "Books". Institute of Competition Law. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  11. ↑ Id. (see Institute of Competition Law website for details: William Kovacic, An Antitrust Tribute Vol. 1 and Vol. 2).
  12. ↑ Id. (see Institute of Competition Law website for details: Day to Day Competition Law by Patrick Hubert at Clifford Chance).
  13. ↑ Behar-Touchais, Martine (September 2014). "Why antitrust? (Preface for the book "10th Anniversary of Concurrences")". Concurrences Review (3). Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "62nd Antitrust Spring Meeting". American Bar Association. Archived from the original on 2014-10-15. Retrieved 2014-10-10.; Wright, Joshua D. "FTC v. Actavis and the Future of Reverse Payment Cases" (PDF). Federal Trade Commission. Retrieved 11 January 2015.(reprinting Commissioner Wright's opening speech for the gala on the Federal Trade Commission website)
  15. 1 2 3 4 "62nd Antitrust Spring Meeting". American Bar Association. Archived from the original on 2014-10-15. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
  16. ↑ "Jury". Antitrust Writing Awards. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  17. ↑ See, for example:
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.