Competition Law Course

Lesson 1 • Relationship to Other Legal Fields

Identifies intersections between competition law and intellectual property, trade, and consumer protection. Prevents siloed thinking by showing cross-disciplinary dependencies.

Lesson 2 • Core Legal Concepts and Terminology

Defines essential terms used throughout competition law practice. Provides the vocabulary needed to read statutes, decisions, and academic commentary accurately.

Lesson 3 • Sources and Institutional Framework

Maps the legislative, regulatory, and judicial sources that create competition law obligations. Shows how agencies, courts, and private parties interact in enforcement.

Lesson 1 • Supply-Side Substitutability

Examines how quickly rivals can redirect production to constrain a price increase. Complements demand-side analysis to avoid artificially narrow market definitions.

Lesson 2 • Dynamic and Digital Market Considerations

Adapts traditional market definition tools to fast-moving and multi-sided digital platforms. Prepares students for markets where price is zero and data is the competitive asset.

Lesson 3 • Demand-Side Substitutability

Explains how consumer switching behavior determines product market boundaries. Anchors market definition in observable economic evidence rather than abstract categories.

Lesson 4 • Geographic Market Delineation

Applies spatial analysis to determine where competitive constraints originate. Covers trade flows, transport costs, and regulatory barriers that shape geographic scope.

Lesson 1 • Leniency Programs and Cartel Detection

Explains how leniency and immunity programs incentivize cartel members to self-report. Covers investigative tools authorities use to detect and prosecute cartel conduct.

Lesson 2 • Information Exchange and Transparency

Assesses when sharing commercially sensitive data between rivals crosses into unlawful coordination. Provides a framework for designing compliant information-sharing arrangements.

Lesson 3 • Concept of Agreement and Concerted Practice

Defines what constitutes an agreement or concerted practice under competition law. Distinguishes unlawful coordination from lawful parallel conduct and information exchange.

Lesson 4 • Horizontal Cooperation Agreements

Evaluates pro-competitive joint ventures, R&D agreements, and production cooperation. Balances efficiency gains against coordination risks using structured legal analysis.

Lesson 1 • Exclusive Dealing and Tying

Assesses single-branding obligations and tying arrangements that foreclose rival suppliers. Applies foreclosure analysis to determine when these practices harm competition.

Lesson 2 • Resale Price Maintenance

Analyzes minimum and maximum resale price maintenance and their competitive effects. Covers enforcement trends and the conditions under which RPM may be justified.

Lesson 3 • Territorial and Customer Restrictions

Examines exclusive territories, customer allocation, and passive sale restrictions in distribution. Connects these restraints to market integration and parallel trade concerns.

Lesson 4 • Framework for Vertical Restraints

Introduces the economic rationale for vertical restraints and the rule-of-reason approach applied to them. Distinguishes vertical from horizontal concerns and sets up subsequent analysis.

Lesson 1 • Refusal to Deal and Essential Facilities

Analyzes when a dominant firm's refusal to supply or license constitutes an abuse. Applies the essential facility doctrine and its strict conditions to infrastructure and IP cases.

Lesson 2 • Establishing Dominance

Defines dominance and the evidentiary standards used to establish it in enforcement proceedings. Builds on market definition skills to assess whether a firm holds a dominant position.

Lesson 3 • Exploitative Abuses and Objective Justification

Examines excessive pricing, discriminatory terms, and unfair trading conditions imposed on customers. Covers the objective justification defense and efficiency arguments available to dominant firms.

Lesson 4 • Tying, Bundling, and Platform Leverage

Assesses how dominant firms use tying and bundling to extend power into adjacent markets. Covers mixed bundling, technical tying, and platform self-preferencing conduct.

Lesson 1 • Merger Review in Digital and Innovation Markets

Adapts merger analysis to acquisitions of nascent competitors and data-rich targets. Addresses killer acquisitions, portfolio effects, and dynamic competition concerns.

Lesson 2 • Merger Notification Thresholds and Procedures

Explains turnover-based and transaction-value thresholds that trigger mandatory pre-merger notification. Covers filing timelines, standstill obligations, and gun-jumping risks.

Lesson 3 • Structural and Behavioral Remedies

Compares divestiture, access, and behavioral remedies in terms of effectiveness and enforceability. Guides students through remedy design principles and negotiation with authorities.

Lesson 4 • Substantive Merger Assessment

Applies the significant impediment to effective competition test and related standards to horizontal and vertical mergers. Integrates market definition and market power analysis into merger review.

Lesson 1 • Private Enforcement and Damages Actions

Covers follow-on and stand-alone damages claims, disclosure rules, and passing-on defenses. Connects public enforcement outcomes to private litigation strategy.

Lesson 2 • Commitment Decisions and Settlements

Analyzes how commitment decisions and settlement procedures resolve investigations without a full infringement finding. Evaluates strategic trade-offs between contesting and settling cases.

Lesson 3 • Competition Compliance Program Design

Provides a practical framework for building and auditing an effective competition compliance program. Links program design to fine reduction credit and corporate governance obligations.

Lesson 4 • Investigative Powers and Procedures

Surveys the investigative tools available to competition authorities, from information requests to unannounced inspections. Prepares students to advise clients on rights and obligations during investigations.

Lesson 1 • Competition Law in Transactions and Due Diligence

Integrates competition law risk assessment into M&A due diligence, deal structuring, and contract drafting. Prepares students to identify and mitigate competition risks before signing.

Lesson 2 • Regulatory Strategy and Advocacy

Develops skills for engaging proactively with competition authorities through advocacy, lobbying, and market studies. Covers how to shape regulatory outcomes before formal proceedings begin.

Lesson 3 • Competition Litigation and Appeals

Examines the procedural and substantive aspects of appealing competition authority decisions. Covers standard of review, evidence standards, and litigation tactics in competition courts.

Lesson 4 • Emerging Regulatory Trends and Future Challenges

Surveys new legislative tools, digital market regulation, and sustainability considerations reshaping competition law. Equips students to anticipate and adapt to a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape.