Antitrust laws are intended to prevent business monopolies and to preserve and encourage competition. Two provisions – the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Act – form the basis of our antitrust laws. The Sherman Act prohibits concerted, unreasonable anticompetitive conduct, such as agreements among competitors to fix prices or divide territories, or attempts to monopolize a market. The Clayton Act prohibits price discrimination, exclusive contracts, mergers, and interlocking directorates that substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly. States also have antitrust statues and statutes that cover trade practices.
Antitrust lawyers work both in law firms and in government. Antitrust lawyers who work in law firms are most often in mid-size to large firms that have departments specializing in antitrust issues. These lawyers represent businesses, either advising clients about the antitrust risks associated with various business practices, getting clearance from the government on the antitrust aspects of a merger or acquisition, or representing businesses in antitrust litigation. Law firm clients range from small businesses to multi-national corporations. Antitrust lawyers who work for the government work either for state offices, like the state attorney general's office, or for federal agencies such as the Department of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission. They investigate and review mergers, acquisitions, and business practices that potentially violate the antitrust laws; negotiate deals and compliance issues; and may litigate complex, high-profile cases.
Antitrust lawyers must be able to provide business counseling to help business people understand antitrust risks, and they must also be able to help their clients accomplish their goals. In addition, antitrust lawyers must have the skills required of litigators, including the ability to undertake detailed legal analysis and handle complex litigation. Thus antitrust lawyers also need exceptional writing skills and strong oral advocacy skills. Finally, antitrust litigation requires detailed analysis of the market and of various factors that influence the market, like pricing, goods, services, and competition. Thus antitrust lawyers must be able to grasp economics and the interplay between economics and law.
Core/Foundation Courses
These are the core courses that -- at a minimum -- employers expect a student interested in this specialty to have.
- Antitrust Law
Recommended Courses
Students interested in this practice area should consider including one or more of the following courses as electives.
- Advanced Legal Writing
- Business Organizations I
- Business Organizations II
- Contracts II
- Law and Economics
- Oral Communications
- Regulated Industries
- Selected Problems in Trade Regulation
- Tax (IA or IB)
- Telecommunications Law
- Trial Advocacy
- Unfair Trade Practices
Enrichment Courses
These courses deepen or broaden the skills and substantive information that a lawyer in this field needs and may also provide advanced courses for students interested in a specialty within this area of practice. [Students should also consider including some upper-level courses outside of the Law School (limit is 6 credits) that focus on the analysis of markets and public policy or market structure and conduct.]
- Contracts II
- Intellectual Property Law
- Securities Regulation
- Selected Problems in the Law of Regulated Industires
- Sports Law
- Tax II
- Trademark Law
(Note that whether a particular course is scheduled depends on faculty availability and student demand.)
Clinics, Internships, and Externships
Consumer Law Litigation Clinic
The Consumer Law Litigation Clinic represents low- and moderate-income
consumers in individual and class action lawsuits in federal and state
courts. The Clinic operates year-round and is open to students who have
completed their first year of law school. The Consumer Law Litigation
Clinic trains students in all aspects of civil litigation.
Department of Justice Clinical Externship Program
Students work in various civil units of the Wisconsin Department of Justice, at the Department of Natural Resources, 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin, or the Midwest Environmental Advocates. The program offers law students a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience in public advocacy and litigation. Externs practice trial, appellate and administrative law with some of the state's most well-respected litigators, working on matters statewide importance.
The Judicial Internship Program places students with trial and appellate
judges throughout Wisconsin, including placements with the Wisconsin Supreme
Court and Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Student work varies but always
emphasizes research and writing.
Student Organizations and Related Activities
Law Review/Law Journals
There are three student journals (Wisconsin Law Review, Wisconsin International Law Journal, Wisconsin Journal of Law, Gender & Society) that give students an opportunity to assist with and contribute to the Law School's scholarly publications. These publications provide invaluable training in legal research and writing and allows students a creative experience.
Mock Trial provides real trial experience at a competitive level. Students participate in nationwide competitions that give them opportunities to give opening and closing statements and direct- and cross-examine witnesses. For the student interested in litigation it is an invaluable experience to learn skills you may not get in the classroom.
Moot Court is a mock appellate advocacy program that provides invaluable experience for students in brief writing and oral advocacy. Students participate in nationwide competitions. For the student interested in litigation it is an invaluable experience and an excellent way to develop strong oral communication skills.
Faculty
Here are some of the full-time faculty who teach or have an interest in this subject area:
Peter Carstensen
Room 7101
608-263-7416
pccarste@wisc.edu
John Ohnesorge
Room 6101
608-263-7603
jkohnesorge@wisc.edu
Gerald
Thain
Room 8105
608-262-3446
gjthain@wisc.edu
In addition to our full-time faculty, the Law School's adjunct faculty members -- prominent practicing lawyers and judges -- bring their specialized knowledge and experience to the classroom.