Antitrust Law Landscape in 2025

Antitrust law is the bedrock of a free and competitive marketplace, but this is under strain from large and increasingly dominant companies. In 2025, expect activity against these large entities to continue. Guidance from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and expert commentary implies more of the same in antitrust in 2025. One possible change is the growing role of state antitrust laws in regulating the marketplace.

The basics of antitrust law

Antitrust legislation is intended to reduce barriers to the free market and to encourage competition. The theory behind antitrust law is that consumers stand to benefit from aggressive competition between sellers through:

• Lower prices
• More choice
• Better quality
• Greater innovation

The roots of antitrust law in the U.S. go back at least as far as the first significant piece of antitrust legislation, The Sherman Act, passed in 1890. Government agencies and private parties can advance legal claims to enforce antitrust laws.  

The main antitrust laws and rules in the U.S.

There are three core federal antitrust laws in the U.S. States have additional pieces of legislation that prevent anti-competitive activity. The U.S. federal statutes are:

• The Sherman Antitrust Act (1890): Prohibits conspiracies or combinations in restraint of trade and prohibits monopolization.
• The Clayton Antitrust Act (1914): Prohibits anticompetitive mergers or acquisitions.
• The Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (1976): Gives Attorneys General the right to bring antitrust suits on behalf of U.S. citizens.

Some examples of antitrust activities are:

• Bid-rigging: Competitors on public projects agree to submit bids in a way that allows one to illegally obtain a higher price.
• Horizontal price-fixing: Market competitors agree to not compete in order to keep prices at a certain level.
• Vertical price-fixing: Actors at all levels of a supply chain agree to artificially set prices to maximize profits. 
• Monopolization: A business stops or restrains a competitor from competing in order to keep a monopoly.
• Anti-competitive mergers: The merger of one or more businesses reduces competition or creates a monopoly.

The role of antitrust attorneys

The role of lawyers in antitrust tends to fall either in antitrust litigation or in advisory and drafting services during mergers and acquisitions. Attorneys General take action to enforce antitrust laws, bringing suit against alleged violators of the acts. Antitrust attorneys defend companies against these claims. 

Antitrust lawyers can also bring antitrust lawsuits on behalf of individuals, against companies and other bodies. Most antitrust lawsuits are actually brought by private citizens who have been harmed by antitrust activity. Although an individual lawsuit is possible, antitrust suits by citizens are typically class actions. Only the Department of Justice (DOJ) can bring an action for criminal prosecution under the federal antitrust laws.

Lawyers often have to rely on expert economic and market analysis in order to defend or prosecute a business accused of antitrust activity. It is the lawyer’s job to make the argument based on those economic facts convincing. When a merger is in process, the lawyer has to advise clients on potential regulatory issues and ways to resolve them.

The changing landscape of antitrust in 2025

Much of antitrust law should continue in 2025. There are ongoing suits against major tech companies such as Amazon, Google, Meta, and Apple, which are expected to play out even if the new federal executive might have different priorities. The Trump administration has made a commitment to significantly reduce the number of regulations across government agencies, but it is unclear how this might impact antitrust work.

However, there might be an increase in state antitrust activity, as each one enforces its own regulatory regime. If movement in antitrust activity moves away from federal law to state law, it could change how antitrust looks in the U.S. 

There’s so far no indication that the federal antitrust authorities are slowing down. Just prior to the start of the new administration, the federal DOJ issued new guidance to companies on what activities involving workers might violate antitrust laws. 

Part of that guidance is a list of activities involving workers that the DOJ sees as antitrust, such as no-hire agreements or wage-fixing between organizations. There’s also guidance on no-poach, non-compete, and non-disclosure agreements. 

For lawyers working in business or employment law, this is vital information that impacts client interests, since there’s so far no indication the DOJ will cease or reduce antitrust activities in 2025.

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