Public vs. Private Antitrust Laws

The Joseph Saveri Law Firm is one of the most highly regarded antitrust and global competition law firms in the United States. We have recovered billions of dollars in damages for classes of consumers and purchasers who have been harmed by illegal conduct. Our diverse team of attorneys has a depth of experience handling private antitrust litigation. We believe in the importance of private damages actions to supplement the public enforcement efforts of governmental agencies worldwide.

In the United States, antitrust law is a collection of federal and state laws that regulate the conduct and organization of businesses, generally to promote competition for the benefit of consumers. Governmental (or “public”) antitrust enforcement is focused on deterring illegal conduct by imposing penalties on bad actors. Through private enforcement of antitrust laws, those harmed by violations of the law are afforded the opportunity to recover for their losses.

Public and private enforcement of antitrust laws work together to help ensure that no business is violating antitrust regulations. While the government conducts public enforcement of antitrust laws on a regular basis by using its vast network of available resources, the benefit of private antitrust enforcement is that private actions are typically more aggressively litigated because private plaintiffs stand to recover damages for themselves that are automatically tripled under federal antitrust law. Individuals or groups of individuals bringing private antitrust actions might bring violations to the attention of the government for public enforcement. This cultivates an environment for business operations to be fair and just throughout the United States.

In private antitrust enforcement, one or more plaintiffs can file and prosecute a lawsuit on behalf of a larger group of individuals as a class action if they suffered similar harm as a result of the defendant’s anticompetitive behavior. This enables one large lawsuit against an organization or individual that violated antitrust laws, as opposed to a number of smaller individual actions.

At the Joseph Saveri Law Firm, we are experienced as lead counsel for private antitrust litigation, including class actions. Antitrust laws are enforced to ensure competition among businesses is fair and just. The federal and state regulations that form antitrust law allow our team of attorneys to have an understanding of the history of antitrust laws and allows us to address our clients’ needs and advice on a range of antitrust cases.