Antitrust Law
Amitai Aviram
Fall 2004
Syllabus
Learning Objectives: This course provides an introduction to the laws that facilitate a market-based (i.e., contractual) economic system by regulating market power.
Most business activities take place in a market-based (i.e., contractual) framework, though many activities are governed by alternative frameworks such as centralized planning and custom-based regimes. Market-based systems usually become more efficient as the sector they apply to becomes more competitive. Therefore, several bodies of law foster competition by laying foundations necessary for it: Property law defines and distributes entitlements; contract law facilitates voluntary exchanges of these entitlements; consumer protection laws mitigate the biasing effects of information asymmetries between parties to these exchanges. Antitrust law’s role is to mitigate the biasing effects of market power, by preventing its creation or enhancement.
To do that, antitrust analysis focuses on ‘what makes the industry tick’; i.e., how characteristics of a given industry affect the incentives and strategies of individual firms. Antitrust is informed by microeconomics, so the course will involve some economic analysis. No prior knowledge of economics is assumed, however.
Reaching Me: The best way to contact me is by e-mail, at: Aviram@illinois.edu. You are also welcome to meet with me at my office. Simply send me an e-mail suggesting days/times that are more convenient to you and we will find a mutually convenient time to meet.
Do not be shy about scheduling a meeting to clarify something that you did not understand in class. If, despite having read the assigned material and attending class, you are puzzled about some issue that was discussed in class, it is perfectly appropriate for you to schedule a meeting so that I can (hopefully) make things clearer. Out-of-class discussion affords me the luxury of focusing on your individual questions or concerns.
Attendance & Preparedness: The American Bar Association requires accredited schools to ensure the “regular and punctual class attendance” of students. The rule applies to this course. You are expected to be prepared for class. Being prepared includes two components: familiarity with the assigned reading, and making an honest effort to think about the issues raised in the assigned reading and in the questions that I ask you in class. Being prepared does not require you to know the correct answers to my questions; just to make your best effort based on the material you were assigned to read. This is not “The Paper Chase” and nobody aces every question they are asked (not even the professors).
Speaking in front of a large group of students may be daunting for many people, but it’s an excellent preparation for law practice. Anxiety may cause you not to respond to the very best of your ability, but you will not be penalized for lack of eloquence. As long as your response shows that you read the material and thought about what I am asking you, you were prepared for class. To ensure that you demonstrate familiarity with the material even when you are anxious, you might want to consider bringing with you to class notes summarizing the reading assignments, or you might want to highlight and write notes on the reading assignment itself. Try to find the technique that works best for you to quickly retrieve detailed information in response to an unexpected question. It will be a valuable skill when you practice law.
You should not feel embarrassed about giving a wrong answer or misunderstanding the material. If you don’t understand something after doing the reading and making an effort to make sense of it, then there are probably other students who are in the same situation. Your ‘wrong’ answer enabled the discussion that clarifies the relevant issues not only for you, but for all the other students. So, you are doing them a service (don’t be too altruistic, though – try to get the answer right…).
My Teaching Style: I tend to use a mix of lecture and Socratic dialogue, because I believe each has advantages in teaching certain aspects of the course. I use PowerPoint slides in nearly all classes. The slides serve primarily to assist you in reviewing the material after class, and for the exam. During class time, focus on me, not on the slides (otherwise, it will get very frustrating, because you won’t be able to do both). If something I say is unclear, note which slide I am on, and remember to read that slide after class to resolve the confusion (the slides serve during class like bookmarks, to which you can return later). My former students tell me that they liked this system, because it significantly reduced the amount of notes they had to take, freeing them to focus on listening and thinking. They also told me that the slides were a convenient resource for them to review the material after class.
I will release the slides each class on my webpage (http://home.law.uiuc.edu/~aviram) a few days after teaching that class. For your convenience, I will have early versions of the slides available online. You may look at these slides to anticipate what we will discuss in class, but be aware than the slides presented in class may be somewhat different than the ones available before class, because I often make last minute changes.
The Exam: The last class of the course is dedicated to exam preparation. In that class I will provide information on the structure of the exam. You can access my past exams and answer memos on my webpage (http://home.law.uiuc.edu/~aviram/Exam.htm).
Required Books: The casebook for this course is: Robert Pitofsky, Harvey J. Goldschmid & Diane P. Wood, Trade Regulation: Cases and Materials (Fifth Edition, 2003). This is the only required book for the course. I will assign a little bit of supplemental reading that is not in the casebook, which you can access from my website.
Determining the
I may make changes to the assigned reading as we go. If I do so, I will make an announcement about this in class. Therefore, the assigned reading is tentative until the end of the immediately preceding class session.
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