WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today announced that the latest in a series of joint public hearings designed to examine the implications of single-firm conduct under the antitrust laws will take place on March 7 and March 8 in Washington, D.C. These hearings have been examining whether and when specific types of single-firm conduct may violate Section 2 of the Sherman Act (which prohibits monopolization and attempted monopolization) by harming competition and consumer welfare and when they are procompetitive and lawful. The hearings will continue during the coming months.
The panels on March 7 and March 8 will explore different methods of evaluating monopoly power in single-firm conduct cases, including issues relating to market definition, the use of direct evidence, single-firm markets, and technology markets. The sessions will be held at the FTC’s Conference Center at 601 New Jersey Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C., Conference Room C.
Further information is provided below:
March 7, 2007 Sessions
Session 1 (9:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M.):
Andrew I. Gavil is a professor of law at the Howard University School of Law.
Richard J. Gilbert is a professor of economics and chair of the Berkeley Competition Policy Center at the University of California, Berkeley, and a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.
Michael L. Katz holds the Sarin Chair in Strategy and Leadership at the Haas School of Business and is also a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.
Philip B. Nelson is a principal at Economists Inc. and a former Assistant Director for Competition Analysis at the Federal Trade Commission.
Joseph J. Simons is a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and a former Director for the Bureau of Competition at the Federal Trade Commission.
Lawrence J. White is the Arthur E. Imperatore professor of economics at the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University and a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.
Session 2 (2:00 P.M.–4:30 P.M.):
Simon Bishop is a partner and co-founder of RBB Economics.
Thomas G. Krattenmaker is of counsel at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
Miguel de la Mano is a member of the chief economist team at the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission.
Joe Sims is a partner at Jones Day and a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.
Irwin M. Stelzer is the director of economic policy studies and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.
March 8, 2007 Session
Session 3 (9:30 A.M.–12:00 P.M.):
Andrew Chin is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law.
Robert H. Lande is the Venable professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law.
Richard Schmalensee is the John C. Head III dean and professor of economics and management at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Alan H. Silberman is a partner at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP.
Michael A. Williams is a director at the ERS Group.
The public and press are invited to attend all of the hearings. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Interested parties may submit written comments to the Antitrust Division and the FTC.
Further information about these hearings will be posted on the Antitrust Division’s Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/hearings/single_firm/sfchearing.htm and on the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov/os/sectiontwohearings/index.htm. Individuals seeking more information on the hearings should contact Gail Kursh, Deputy Chief, Legal Policy Section, Antitrust Division, at singlefirmconduct@usdoj.gov or Patricia Schultheiss, FTC, at section2hearings2@ftc.gov.
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