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Reports
Annual
report archives
MSBA Antitrust Law Section
2007-2008 Annual Report
May 12, 2008
The Antitrust Law Section once again had an active and successful year, with a full slate of CLE programs.
Council Meetings. The Antitrust Law Section Council met regularly on the second Wednesday of the month at the MSBA offices in Minneapolis to plan CLEs and other section business.
Section Delegate. The Antitrust Section’s delegate to the Assembly (Mark Jacobson) participated actively in the Assembly and in committee work and kept the Section’s leadership apprised. He was reappointed to serve a fourth term.
CLE Programs. The Antitrust Section continued its outstanding series of CLE presentations. (The Section has carved out a “niche” of noontime programs.) The 2007-08 season presented the following:
· In our lead-off program, Deborah A. Garza, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, addressed over 45 attorneys and students on September 20, 2007 at the University of St. Thomas School of Law. Ms. Garza serves in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division, and is the former Chair of the Antitrust Modernization Commission (AMC). Ms. Garza shared her thoughts on whether Congress will enact antitrust reforms recommended by the AMC in its final report issued in April 2007.
· On October 16, 2007, the ABA Antitrust Section’s Trial Practice Committee, the Iowa State Bar Association, and the Minnesota State Bar Association Antitrust Law Section jointly presented “Inside an Antitrust Trial: the View from Behind the Bench and Inside the Jury Room in the Iowa Microsoft Trial.” Antitrust cases rarely go to trial, but for the second time in three years, a jury was impaneled in an indirect-purchaser antitrust case involving Microsoft. This time it was Comes v. Microsoft, which was tried in Iowa’s Polk County District Court for several weeks before the parties settled the case. In this program, the presiding judge (Hon. Scott Rosenberg) provided background on the case and some of the rules and practices he followed for the trial. Selected jurors responded to questions about the trial ‑‑ what they liked, and what trial themes came through.
· Minnesota antitrust lawyers and law students gathered on November 14, 2007, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Minneapolis to hear Professor Robert Kudrle speak about his recently completed research on antitrust law, a comparison of theory and practice in North America, Europe, and Asia. Kudrle is Freeman Professor of International Trade and Investment Policy at the Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and the Law School, University of Minnesota.
· Attorney General Lori Swanson addressed the Section at the Town & Country Club in St. Paul on January 16, 2008. Attorney General Swanson presented an overview of her office’s enforcement priorities which included a number of consumer protection efforts as well as recent antitrust enforcement activity. Approximately 60 persons attended the program, an unusually large number. Many in attendance were from outside our section, reflecting broad general interest in the legal community.
· Dan Shulman, the noted Twin Cities antitrust practitioner and shareholder in the Gray Plant Mooty firm, addressed the Section membership on April 9, 2008, at the Minneapolis Club on the impact of antitrust law on sports, principally through the example of baseball, interspersing his talk with asides on famous baseball players and events. The slide presentation accompanying Dan’s remarks is available on the Section website at www.mnbar.org.
· Finally, on May 7, 2008, Law Professors Tom Cotter (University of Minnesota), Richard Murphy (William Mitchell), Susan Hayes Stephan (Hamline) and moderator Michael Lindsay (who teaches antitrust law at St. Thomas), presented an update on the past year’s antitrust decisions. They shared insights about significant recent appellate decisions involving product bundling, exclusive dealing, and patent settlements. Panelists also discussed the impact of the European Union’s recent Microsoft decisions.
Annual Meeting, Election of New Officers and Section Council. The Section held its annual meeting on May 7, 2008, in conjunction with its noontime CLE program. Beth Krueger (Greene Espel) was elected Chair for the 2008-2009 year. Joe Bruckner (Lockridge Grindal Nauen) was elected Vice-Chair. Craig Coleman (Faegre & Benson) is the new Secretary and Treasurer. As noted above, Mark Jacobson (Lindquist & Vennum) was reappointed as the Section’s representative to the MSBA Assembly.
Finances. The Section began FY 2007-2008 with a positive balance (not including investments) of $1,599.57. Total revenues for the year to date are $7,750.00, comprising membership dues and meeting fees. Total expenses for the year to date are $3,831.03, primarily comprising MSBA internal section invoices, catering charges, in-house charges and administrative fees. This leaves the Section with an ending balance for the year to date of $5,518.54. Together with the Section’s investment balance (maintained in a CD by US Bank) of $2,883.70, the Section’s ending balance including investments for the year to date is a very healthy $8,402.24.
Website. Section Council member Brian Fischer, working with Kim Basting, the Section’s MSBA staff liaison, did tremendous work to update and make the Antitrust Section website more content rich. Among other improvements, detailed reports on each of our program events are posted, often along with a copy of the speaker’s remarks or slide presentation. Additionally, Section members are invited to post articles of interest to the membership to the website.
The Antitrust Law Section welcomes participation by all attorneys and law students and faculty who have an interest in antitrust law, regardless of the level of their experience or activity. Those interested in becoming members should feel free to contact the MSBA officers listed above.
Richard A. Duncan
2007-2008 Section Chair
- Last Updated 07/01/08-