History and Organization of the Antitrust Division

• Pages: 1-19

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CHAPTER I

HISTORY AND ORGANIZATION OF THE

ANTITRUST DIVISION

A. Creation of the Antitrust Division

Between the Sherman Act’s passage in 1890 and 1903, the Attorney

General enforced the antitrust laws.1 In 1903, the administration of

President Theodore Roosevelt and Attorney General Philander Knox

established the office of Assistant to the Attorney General to take charge

of all antitrust matters.2

In 1933, under the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt

and Attorney General Homer S. Cummings, the Antitrust Division was

founded.3 Its purpose was to establish “its own corps of specialists in

antitrust law to cope with the increasing complexities of antitrust

enforcement.”4 That same year, Harold M. Stephens was appointed the

first Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division.5

B. Purpose of the Antitrust Division

The mission of the Antitrust Division “is the promotion and

maintenance of competition in the American economy.”6 The Division’s

mission is based on the premise that “competition in a free market

benefits American consumers through lower prices, better quality, and

greater choice.”7

1. See U.S. DEP’T OF JUSTICE,ANTITRUST DIV.MANUAL I-2 (Dec. 2008)

[hereinafter ANTITRUST DIV.MANUAL], available at www.usdoj.gov/

atr/public/divisionmanual/index.html.

2. See id.

3. See id.

4. Id.

5. See id.

6. Id.

7. About the Division: Mission, ANTITRUST DIV.U.S.DEP’T OF JUSTICE,

www.justice.gov/atr/about/mission.html.

2DOJ Civil Antitrust Practice and Procedure Manual

The Division’s primary functions and goals include:8

•“General criminal and civil enforcement of the federal antitrust

laws and other laws relating to the protection of competition and

the prohibition of restraints of trade and monopolization,

including investigation of possible violations of antitrust laws,

conduct of grand jury proceedings, issuance and enforcement of

civil investigative demands, and prosecution of all litigation that

arises out of such civil and criminal investigations.”9

•Providing guidance to the business community on antitrust laws,

which reduces the costs to businesses of complying with the law

by alleviating uncertainty about the parameters of legal

behavior.10

•Acting as an advocate for competition, seeking to promote

competition in sectors of the economy that are or may be subject

to government regulation. This includes intervention or

participation before administrative agencies in proceedings

requiring consideration of the antitrust laws or competitive

policies.11

•Acting as an advocate for competition before other branches of

government, including: developing and presenting legislative

proposals relating to the antitrust laws for Congress, advising the

President and Executive Branch on the competitive implications

of governmental action, and assembling information and

preparing reports relating to the antitrust laws that are required or

requested by the Congress or the Attorney General, and

coordinating antitrust enforcement efforts with states and

international competition enforcement authorities.12

C. Organization and Structure

The Attorney General and Congress officially approve the

organizational structure of the Antitrust Division.13 An Assistant

8. See 28 C.F.R. §§ 0.40, 0.41 (listing the Division’s primary functions).

9. ANTITRUST DIV.MANUAL,supra note 1, at I-2-3.

10. See About the Division: Mission, ANTITRUST DIV.U.S.DEP’T OF JUSTICE,

http://www.justice.gov/atr/about/mission.html.

11. See id.

12. See ANTITRUST DIV.MANUAL,supra note 1, at I-3.

13. See id.