Explainer Episode 19 – The Burden of Proof in Competition Law
Regulatory Transparency Project's Fourth Branch Podcast
Topics: | Administrative Law & Regulation • Corporations, Securities & Antitrust • Regulatory Transparency Project |
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Sponsors: | Regulatory Transparency Project |

The House Committee on the Judiciary recently released a report on the state of competition in the digital marketplace. The report, which was the result of a 16-month-long investigation, describes itself as “an attack on how America has approached antitrust for the past 40 years.”
One of the recommendations in the report involves shifting the evidentiary burden of proof from the plaintiff to the defendant, particularly in civil mergers challenges, which would entail a significant change to antitrust law.
In this episode, Ashley Baker lays out the current burden of proof framework used in U.S. courts in competition law cases, the role of presumptions in antitrust litigation, and the potential implications of the burden shift proposed in the report.
Featuring:
- Ashley Baker, Director of Public Policy, Committee for Justice
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