Antitrust Law In The Biden Administration: What’s The Deal With That?
davidlat.substack.com
Vinson & Elkins partner Craig Seebald, a top antitrust litigator, analyzes last week's DOJ challenge to a $13 billion deal by UnitedHealth and the future of competition law.
Posting on behalf of a reader who emailed me (as some readers prefer to do, instead of posting under their own names:
"My question would be is there any consensus in Congress or in reform minds that we should change the 'consumer welfare' standard that more or less governs antitrust. Isn’t there still fealty to that standard among judges? If that is to be replaced or amended, then 'to what'?"
"I think reformers have been hesitant to define a new standard with any precision, and that risks a certain amount of intellectual incoherence. Until Congress acts. I haven’t looked at the proposed bills; I’m sure they all use words that give judges some leeway in interpreting how to apply them. But what’s the lodestar of the new approach?"
Posting on behalf of a reader who emailed me (as some readers prefer to do, instead of posting under their own names:
"My question would be is there any consensus in Congress or in reform minds that we should change the 'consumer welfare' standard that more or less governs antitrust. Isn’t there still fealty to that standard among judges? If that is to be replaced or amended, then 'to what'?"
"I think reformers have been hesitant to define a new standard with any precision, and that risks a certain amount of intellectual incoherence. Until Congress acts. I haven’t looked at the proposed bills; I’m sure they all use words that give judges some leeway in interpreting how to apply them. But what’s the lodestar of the new approach?"
Great story, David!