Antitrust Courses Can Teach Valuable Practical Skills -- If Taught Well

Abstract

Law schools are being pushed by accreditation bodies, law firms, and students themselves to offer additional practical alternatives for students, all in the search for experiential learning. Antitrust law, with arcane concepts like economist’s curves, Herfindahls, and two-sided markets, would not seem a good candidate for such learning. I believe, however, that antitrust law offers up several possible ways for professors to provide practical legal lessons useful to all future lawyers, even those who do not end up joining the antitrust community. In addition, antitrust courses can teach lessons about how the economy and businesses operate — and those lessons are valuable to the many students who have no real experience with either.