Jeetander Dulani Discusses Biden's Antitrust Policies, Diversity in Competition Law on The Legal 500 Podcast

03.25.2024

Stinson LLP Partner Jeetander Dulani is featured on The Legal 500 podcast delving into the latest trends shaping antitrust laws and enhanced enforcement under the Biden administration, including the administration's innovative approach to challenging mergers on new grounds and the new merger rules, which focus on market concentration as harmful.

In the "'Woke Antitrust' and the Future of Antitrust Law" episode, Dulani highlights the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) shift in focus from their traditional approach of looking at consumer welfare to focusing on structural issues, including upstream effects on labor markets and workers. As a result, he says the agencies are finding it difficult to address mergers in technology, health care and national security, where there may be evidence of both increased concentration and evidence of traditional benefits, such as lower prices, increased efficiencies and greater output, among others. Dulani says the challenge is that the agencies have four decades of precedent that doesn't line up with the current structural vision that concentration itself is a problem and because "they have tried to move away from the consumer welfare standard, which has underpinned a lot of the jurisprudence over the last four decades."

He discusses the Biden administration's litigation over regulation strategy and its impact on businesses and their innovation efforts. He also examines the DOJ and FTC's new merger rules and provides insight on their potential impact on antitrust cases.

Additionally, Dulani discusses diversity, equity and inclusion within the antitrust bar and his inclusion efforts. "There is still a lot of work to be done. There are a lot of folks who don't see themselves in this practice area and there's an opportunity there," Dulani said. "I'm hopeful that as we move forward, we're going to get both positive demand from clients and a focus on increasing diversity within law firms."

Dulani's practice includes competition disputes, class actions, mergers and acquisitions, government investigations and other complex litigation. He represents clients before the DOJ and FTC in merger and conduct investigations, as well as False Claims Act-related litigation, and advises on antitrust risk and compliance and on vertical business arrangements.

Listen to the full episode.