Key Skills of a Successful Antitrust Lawyer

An antitrust lawyer needs to understand economics. To do that well, an antitrust lawyer needs to be mathematically fluent as well, since economics depends on math. Lots of people go to law school because they dont like math or science. Its surprising how many antitrust lawyers are not comfortable in these areas. That is a real handicap first, because you need to understand the economic issues underlying antitrust problems, and second, because antitrust cases depend much more than many other cases on expert economic testimony. If you are going to shape your economists work and undercut the other sides economist , you had better understand what they are talking about and understand it thoroughly so you are not just along for the ride.

Beyond that, an antitrust lawyer needs an ability to tell a story and communicate, as every lawyer does, but the difference is that an antitrust lawyer has to be able to do so with respect to matters that often involve uniquely complex legal and factual issues. This is, of course, critical because if a judge or jury doesnt understand the issues youve developed, they are irrelevant. Very few judges, including federal judges, have significant antitrust backgrounds.

A good antitrust lawyer also needs to have management skills. Antitrust cases tend to be so large that often there are significant teams of people working on them on either side, and you have to be able to cost effectively manage a group of lawyers, who are often not the most manageable of people. Antitrust cases need to be both artistic successes and financial successes.