$10,000 Third Annual William E. Swope Antitrust Prize Awarded

Posted by D. Daniel Sokol

A 2007 Yale Law graduate practicing in the UK has won the Third Annual William E. Swope Antitrust Prize for a paper analyzing the recent introduction of U.S.-style antitrust settlements in the European
Union. The $10,000 award celebrates a former Jones Day partner and his pioneering fact-intensive approach to antitrust analysis.

The Prize was awarded today at ceremonies in Jones Day's Washington office to George Stephanov Georgiev, a 2007 graduate of Yale Law School currently working as an associate in the London office of Sullivan & Cromwell. His paper, "Contagious Efficiency: The Growing Reliance on U.S.-Style Antitrust Settlements in EU Law," finds that "the use of settlements leads to distortions in enforcement incentives and is interfering with many of the original goals of the antitrust modernization program."

Receiving $1,500 honorable mentions prizes were third-year Vanderbilt University Law School student Yasmine "Becky" Carson for "Judicial Interference: Redefining the Role of the Judiciary Within the Context of U.S. and E.U. Merger Clearance Coordination" and Jesse Geraci, a third-year at Boalt Hall School of Law of the University of California at Berkeley, for "Misusing Open-Source?  How Technology Companies Using the GPL Might Run Afoul of Antitrust Law." All three winners have been invited to attend the Spring Meeting of the American Bar Association's Antitrust Section as guests of Jones Day.

"At a time when antitrust enforcement clung to rigid rules, tests, and theories, Bill Swope insisted on focusing on the facts and how they explained how specific markets worked in the real world," said Phil Proger, the head of Jones Day's global antitrust practice. "While this is now the accepted standard, Bill was one of the leaders in pushing for fewer slogans and more factual analysis."

Only law students and recent graduates are eligible for the annual competition. The deadline for submissions for next year's prize is December 31. Complete rules are available at www.jonesday.com/swope/.