The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division and State Attorneys General

The United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) frequently collaborates with state attorneys general in enforcing the federal antitrust laws. While always ensuring appropriate confidentiality protections, there are several different pathways by which DOJ and state attorneys general collaborate, including state attorneys general approach DOJ and DOJ approaching specific state attorneys general. The collaboration itself has two distinct phases. During the investigative phase, DOJ will often be in frequent contact with an executive committee of state attorneys general. The enforcement phase requires a delicate balance of DOJ’s need for heightened confidentiality with state attorneys general need for information as independent decision makers. In the past year, DOJ has worked, in one form or another, with over thirty state attorneys general on various investigations. DOJ is committed to collaborating with the state attorneys general where doing so is necessary to protect competition for the benefit of the American consumer.