Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim Announces Re-Organization of the Antitrust Division's Civil Enforcement Program

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division is creating the Office of Decree Enforcement and Compliance and a Civil Conduct Task Force.  Additionally, it will redistribute matters among its six civil sections in order to build expertise based on current trends in the economy. The Office of Decree Enforcement and Compliance will have primary responsibility for enforcing judgments and consent decrees in civil matters. It will also advise the Antitrust Division’s criminal sections when parties seek credit at the charging stage for their corporate compliance programs. The office will work closely with division attorneys, monitors, and compliance officers to ensure the effective implementation of and compliance with antitrust judgments. Additionally, the office will be the Antitrust Division’s primary contact for complainants who have information regarding potential violations of those final judgments. The Office of Decree Enforcement and Compliance will be led by Lawrence Reicher, who most recently served as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General and was awarded DOJ’s John Marshall Award for his leadership of the Division’s Judgment Termination Initiative, the review and termination of perpetual judgments dating to the 1890s. 

The second change to the Antitrust Division’s civil enforcement program is the creation of the Civil Conduct Task Force.  This dedicated group of Division attorneys will work across the civil sections and field offices to identify conduct investigations that require additional focus and resources.  As an independent group, the task force will have the dedicated resources and a consistent mandate to investigate and, ultimately, prosecute civil conduct violations of the antitrust laws.

The third change announced today is the realignment of certain responsibilities within the Antitrust Division’s six civil sections. The allocation of commodities among sections has evolved over the years, and today’s announcement is a recognition that technology has reshaped the competitive dynamics in several industries that the Antitrust Division analyzes on a regular basis. Specifically, the currently named Media, Entertainment, and Professional Services Section will shift attention to financial services, fintech, and banking.  Those commodities were previously divided across three other civil sections.  The currently named Telecommunications and Broadband Section will expand its portfolio to concentrate on media, entertainment, and telecommunications industries. Lastly, the currently named Technology and Financial Services section will focus full time on technology markets and the competitive characteristics of platform business models.