Antitrust Compliance

We believe that having a solid antitrust compliance program in place puts a company in the best position to avoid criminal and civil liability and minimize the costs of defending an investigation, a prosecution or a civil case. The simple solution is to invest in a tailored antitrust compliance program that fits the client's business. A second solution is to assure that the affected employees (and officers) understand what is required of them under the antitrust laws (and Titles 18 and 26) by having a knowledgeable antitrust practitioner present a program (typically at a sales-type event) that explains the antitrust laws, outlines how to comply with them and informs those employees and officers in an unvarnished way what consequences they and their company may face in the event those laws are violated.

We have prepared custom written antitrust compliance programs for clients that are geared to each client's unique area of business and that set forth what is expected of the employees and officers in the company. The employees and officers are asked to acknowledge receipt and understanding of the compliance program in writing. Then, either annually or, in some cases, biannually, the company's personnel will attend a presentation that reviews the elements in the written compliance program, provides examples of non-compliance (and prosecution) and offers an opportunity for questions regarding the applicability of the laws to the real-life encounters they have in the marketplace. In our presentation we also discuss the Title 18 felonies that are sometimes prosecuted with antitrust crimes, such as obstruction of justice and making false statements to the grand jury.

Having a strong compliance program in place can weigh heavily in the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division's evaluation of a company's culpability in the event a rogue employee places the company at risk by engaging in unlawful conduct. And even if the company is unsuccessful in convincing the Antitrust Division that it should not be prosecuted, the Antitrust Division considers the existence of an antitrust compliance program a mitigating factor in the calculation of the company's sentence.

Any antitrust compliance program - either written or in presentation form - is a must for progressive-thinking companies and is well worth the modest cost. In this regard, for regular clients, we do not charge any fees for making an antitrust compliance presentation on an annual basis to the company's employees and officers.