Criminal Antitrust: The Discovery Process and the Role of Economic Experts
The Exchange: Insurance and Financial Services Development, 2022
As the government’s approach to criminal antitrust investigations has evolved, the potential role of the economic expert in such matters has grown, according to an Analysis Group article in The Exchange: Insurance and Financial Services Development, a newsletter of the American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law. In the article, “Criminal Antitrust: The Discovery Process and the Role of Economic Experts,” Managing Principal Samuel Weglein, Principal Chris Feige, Vice President David Smith, and Manager Solvejg Wewel draw on their experience in both civil and criminal antitrust cases, the latter of which include US v. Richard Usher, et al. and US v. Akshay Aiyer. The authors examine the expert discovery process in criminal antitrust litigation relative to civil antitrust litigation, and then discuss how economic experts may offer valuable opinions even in a per se environment – that is, one focused on the existence rather than the effect of an alleged conspiracy.