The Critical Importance of Increasing the Board’s Antitrust Fluency

The combination of the Biden administration’s vigorous support of competition in the marketplace and the aggressive application of sometimes novel antitrust theories by federal enforcement agencies is creating a significant strategic challenge for boards. Historically, the federal government’s antitrust enforcement focus was almost exclusively on how business practices impacted consumer welfare (e.g., price increases). Now, the focus is on how market concentration impacts affect a much broader universe of participants in the economy, including workers, farmers and other producers, small businesses and start-ups, and consumers...

Michael W. Peregrine is a partner in the Chicago office of McDermott Will & Emery. His views do not necessarily represent the views of McDermott Will & Emery or its clients.

Stephen Y. Wu is a partner in the Chicago office of McDermott Will & Emery, where he represents health industry clients on antitrust issues.