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The Bill Kovacic Antitrust Salon organized by Concurrences and the George Washington University Law School in partnership with Cornerstone Research, Fried Frank, Paul Weiss, Charles River Associates and Meta took place in Washington DC on September 9, 2024.
Key Takeaways
Opening Fireside Chat
Bill Kovacic
Professor, George Washington University Law School, Washington DC moderated the discussion.
Doha Mekki
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, Washington DC
Impact of transitions on the Antitrust Division
- Despite changes, continuity is ensured primarily by the dedicated Antitrust Division staff, which comprises around 800 skilled and nonpartisan public servants dedicated to continuing agency operations and cases independently of political changes.
- Transitions nevertheless can bring new leadership priorities and visions that influence agency operations and decision-making.
- Market changes can also impact agency focus; the Division has focused in recent years on emerging competition issues like information sharing and algorithmic collusion.
- The agency has adapted investigations to these new challenges based on public engagement and continued evolution of the substantive law.
Public engagement
- Engaging with people outside Washington helps authorities better understand how markets function and the real-world impact of their enforcement and policies.
- The Division gathers public input through direct engagement with diverse groups (businesses, academics, farmers, practitioners, tech founders, etc.) and via RFIs.
- The goal is to understand real-world market experiences and improve understanding of markets. For example:
- Insights from workshops, like those in Silicon Valley on AI, help authorities understand the impact of regulation and enforcement on innovation.
- Feedback from farmers highlights unique challenges in agriculture, such as monopsony issues.
- The focus is on practical market functioning rather than over-relying on theoretical models.
