Judge Merrick Garland's Antitrust Past: A Brief Summary

Since President Obama announced Judge Merrick Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States last Wednesday, March 16, 2016, many have opined on his qualifications as well as the political fight about his confirmation this election year. A few articles have noted Judge Garland's academic background—that he taught Advanced Antitrust at his alma mater, Harvard Law School, while working in private practice in the 1980s. During that time, Judge Garland also published articles in the Yale Law Journal and Harvard Law Review on antitrust issues.

Although his time as an antitrust academic ended nearly 30 years ago, Judge Garland's articles remain relevant and continue to be cited by the courts and legal academics. For example, his article, Antitrust and State Action: Economic Efficiency and the Political Process, 96 Yale L.J. 486 (1986), was cited by Justice Kennedy in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC, 135 S. Ct. 1101 (2015), in February