Proving Anti-Competitive Conduct in the U.S. Courtroom: The Plaintiff's Argument in Pickett v Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc

Domina David A.
Additional contact information
Domina David A.: DominaLaw pc llo, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, 2004, vol. 2, issue 1, 44

Abstract: Defining competition in a U.S. Courtroom involves the analytical and intellectual collision of the law's pragmatic aspects with the academic realities of economics. Both disciplines depend heavily upon competition, and employ a rich dosage of competition language. However, "competition" in law and "competition" in economics are dramatically different.Economists often study market efficiencies. In an academic setting, economics and econometrics evaluate efficiency, and assess its achievement or failure. As a social science, the study of markets by economists often involves the specific assessment of market efficiencies. Here, too, the law's social disciplines differ greatly from those of academic economics. Except for a few aberrant moments of brief duration, the process of making, enforcing, and litigating over legal principles in history's democracies has never involved pursuit of an efficient economy, or even an efficient legal system. To the contrary, the law's goal is to govern behavior to ensure fairness, justice, legal compliance, and not efficiency.Through analysis of a history-making U.S. cattle market trial, this paper considers legal "proof" and illustrates application of the rules of evidence and courtroom-level definitions of "proof" and "evidence." Routinely, juries are instructed on what constitutes proof, and what does not. In the legal case that provides this paper's illustrative focus, the United States District Court's definition of evidence for the jurors, the court's rulings on evidence issues, and the lawyers' arguments of the evidence to the jury impacted an entire industry. The case provides a useful tool for studying and defining competition in a U.S. courtroom.

Keywords: Pickett; Tyson; IBP; captive supplies; cattle prices (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.2202/1542-0485.1095 (text/html)
For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bpj:bjafio:v:2:y:2004:i:1:p:1-44:n:9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.degruyter.com/journal/key/jafio/html

DOI: 10.2202/1542-0485.1095

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization is currently edited by Azzeddine Azzam

More articles in Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization from De Gruyter
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Peter Golla ().