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The Department of Justice ("DOJ") and Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") have announced that the first in a series of joint
public hearings examining the antitrust implications of single-firm conduct will take place on June 20 and June 22 in Washington,
D.C.[1] As previously announced, the series of hearings is expected to continue throughout the year and are intended to examine the
circumstances under which single-firm conduct may violate Section 2 of the Sherman Act by harming competition and consumer
welfare and when, in contrast, such conduct is pro-competitive or benign.
The opening session will feature Assistant Attorney General Thomas O. Barnett and FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras, as well
as antitrust scholars, Professor Herbert Hovenkamp, University of Iowa College of Law and Professor Dennis Carlton, University
of Chicago Graduate School of Business. The second session, on June 22, will focus on predatory pricing, and will include two panels of scholars/experts including,
among others, Kenneth G. Elzinga, University of Virginia, Janusz Ordover, New York University and former Deputy Assistant
Attorney General, Antitrust Division, and Steven C. Salop, Georgetown University Law Center.
The hearings will be held at the FTC Headquarters Building, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW, Washington, D.C., Room 432. The following is the current schedule of events:
June 20: Welcome and Overview of Hearings
(2:00 PM to 4:00 PM)
June 22: Predatory Pricing
Morning Session (9:30 AM - 12:00 PM): Selling
Afternoon Session (1:30 PM - 4:00 PM): Buying
We will provide information on additional hearing dates as soon as they are announced. In the meantime, if you have any questions about submitting comments in the proceeding described above, which may be submitted
through the date of the last, as yet unscheduled, hearing, please feel free to contact any member of the Morrison & Foerster
LLP antitrust practice group.
