Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (Wilson Sonsini) is pleased to present its 2019 Antitrust Year in Review, which summarizes the most significant antitrust matters and developments of the past year. Over the past few years, the use of antitrust laws and regulations has become a highly debated subject in public discourse, and this year saw antitrust become the fashionable tool to cite on a wide variety of issues. The tech sector continues to be in the spotlight, with both federal antitrust enforcement agencies forming specialized divisions to focus solely on mergers and conduct of technology companies. Meanwhile, government enforcers and private plaintiffs remain focused on the life sciences industry, intellectual property issues, and traditional price-fixing and bid-rigging conduct. We note the trend that state attorneys general offices have taken a much more prominent role in enforcing antitrust laws, sometimes even when at odds with positions taken by federal enforcers.

In this report, we examine the Trump Administration’s antitrust enforcement approach and analyze actions by both U.S. antitrust agencies across a range of civil and criminal enforcement matters. We also examine international civil enforcement trends at the European Commission (EC), where tech is also top of mind. The criminal enforcement section provides an overview of trends in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) criminal enforcement program, including changes in the DOJ’s approach to leniency. We also highlight cartel investigations in active jurisdictions outside of the U.S., including in Canada, China, the EU, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. This report concludes with an update on private antitrust litigation, where the stakes (and correspondingly, the size of settlements) seem to grow every year. Multi-district litigation and the consolidation of multiple actions presents unique and new procedural and due process issues, as well as substantive challenges.