“We recognized at each stage that the work we were engaged in was momentous,” states Jonathan Kanter, JD ’98. As the assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s antitrust division under President Joe Biden, Kanter led headline-making cases against corporate titans such as Google, Apple, Live Nation-Ticketmaster, and others, earning the nickname “The Trustbuster” from The New York Times. By doing so, he has contributed to clarifying what it signifies to be a monopoly in the digital era — and what is required to combat them.
“These cases are quite similar to the significant antitrust cases I examined at WashU,” Kanter remarks. “Whether it was against Standard Oil, AT&T, or Microsoft, a small collection of pivotal cases has become landmark moments in the evolution of antitrust law and economic policy in our nation. It was exhilarating to be involved in that, ushering in the next generation of cases that will shape this legal and policy area for years to come.”
By the time Kanter entered his second year at WashU Law, he was certain that he desired to pursue antitrust as a profession. John Drobak, the George Alexander Madill Professor of Real Property & Equity Jurisprudence, motivated Kanter to undertake his first internship with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Kanter subsequently spent two years at the FTC before joining several large law firms and ultimately establishing his own firm, which concentrates on antitrust enforcement.
Drobak also instructed Kanter’s preferred class at WashU, a course on property rights offered in conjunction with the law school and the Department of Economics in Arts & Sciences. Co-facilitated by the late Nobel laureate Douglass North, the course’s interdisciplinary method influenced how Kanter would later lead the antitrust division at the DOJ.
“In addition to having exceptional lawyers and economists, we incorporated data scientists and strategy specialists,” Kanter states. “We thoroughly encouraged and built an interdisciplinary group, and that was a crucial element of our success.”
This team achieved significant victories, such as a ruling by a judge last August that deemed Google’s online search engine an illegal monopoly. Kanter also takes pride in lesser-known cases that he believes can positively affect the everyday lives of Americans.
One such case contended that Agri Stats, Inc., unlawfully shared competitively sensitive information among meat processors, potentially resulting in elevated grocery prices. Kanter believes that competition is vital to economic liberty, whether in agriculture, housing, travel, or numerous other sectors.
“Competition and freedom are interconnected,” he asserts. “The true essence of our nation is freedom from oppression, whether that oppression is inflicted by the government or by a corporation wielding as much authority as a government.”
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