From April 5 through April 8, 2022, the Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association held its annual Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C. A prominent theme throughout the week was the role of the antitrust laws in the lives of the American public. Carol Sipperly, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division, said that the DOJ wants to create merger guidelines that can be picked up, read, and understood by anyone, while the Chair’s Showcase began by asking the panelists whether antitrust can repair the world. Between these expressions of antitrust policy’s infiltration beyond academia, the Spring Meeting provided agency status updates, platforms to debate the Merger Guidelines, and opportunities to address the most pressing topics in antitrust law today. Based on the events that featured representatives from the enforcement agencies, it was clear that the DOJ and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have been attempting to meet the Biden administration’s progressive antitrust agenda.

‘We are not afraid to litigate’

At the Enforcers Roundtable, Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter’s opening remarks emphasized the Division’s focus on large companies in both the merger and conduct contexts, stating, “We are not afraid to take on big companies and we are not afraid to litigate.” FTC Chair Lina Khan echoed that sentiment, noting the FTC’s recent successes in merger enforcement, particularly in encouraging numerous abandonments in the context of vertical challenges.

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