How much do competition lawyers get paid in the US

March 26, 2021

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This article is written by Aarlin Moncy, from HILSR, School of Law, Jamia Hamdard. This article will give you an idea about why competition law is in demand, and how much can a competition earn in the US.

Table of Contents

Why is Competition Law in demand?

Competition law in the United States of America is better known as antitrust laws. It is because back in the late 19th century, “trusts” were abusing their power and were trying to control the market and were trying to influence the market forces. That’s why antitrust laws were enacted to maintain an equilibrium in the market and promote free and fair competition between businesses.
Coming back to the main question, why competition law/antitrust law is in demand worldwide, it is because the global market is growing everyday, new businesses are entering the market every now and then as it is much easier to enter into markets now as compared to earlier.
Since, the market is growing and new enterprises/businesses are growing, there is huge risk which can definitely come in the path of consumers as well as the enterprises. These risks or problems are basically the anti-competitive malpractices that can bring an adverse effect in any country’s economy. The bigger the economy, the bigger the risk.
This is one of the reasons behind this field of law being the highly demanded one everywhere, as companies are not sure about their policies and require competition/antitrust lawyers to give them solutions which will not only be beneficial to these companies but will also make sure that these policies or decisions made by them are not anti-competitive in nature.
As penalties pertaining to anti-competitive trade practices are very strict that’s why companies are making sure that they comply with all the requirements.

Top Competition Law lawyers and law firms in the US

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Arnold & Porter
Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP
Baker Botts LLP
Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP
Constantine Cannon LLP
Covington & Burling LLP
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

Some of the top antitrust lawyers in the United States are:

Irving Scher
James F Rill
David Boies
Maureen K Ohlhausen

Top colleges/universities famous for antitrust law

The reason why Indian students usually go abroad to pursue their master’s in competition law is that in India, there is no such course as of now which are focused on the competition law theme, since competition law is a new law in India, the scope for the same is wide but the literature and required resources are still lacking. That’s why students tend to travel abroad in order to gain skills and experience in this particular field.

Top colleges/universities best for students to pursue their master’s focuses and specialised in competition law/antitrust laws are as follow:

London School of Economics
University College London
King’s College London
University of Liège
Brussels School of Competition
New York University

Pay grade and job opportunities

Since the demand, particularly for this field of law, is quite high in the entire market and the job opportunities for the same is also at a peak, on average, an antitrust lawyer in the US, can earn anywhere between 90K to 110K a year. This figure is the average or we can say the minimum an antitrust lawyer is eligible to earn or can ask at least this much from the employer or recruiter.
The most important question lies here, how to score a well-paying job as an antitrust lawyer in the US. We all need to understand this fact that most importantly, it is based on the fact that in the US, there is a cut-throat competition in each and every field, be it law or any other field outside. The reason for this is that most of the top and premier law schools are located and based in the US. The education policies are much better than the Indian system.
The question that each recruiter will ask is, how are we better than the students who have studied from the United States, or whether we have more skills or experience than the students who studied in the US.
As a student who has completed his/her studies from the States, particularly in the antitrust domain, then that individual has a better understanding of the American system, policies, market and economy as compared to an individual who has studied from India. In these situations, an individual shall work on gaining more exposure, learning more skills and in the end acquiring experience from his/her home country. Recruiters prefer candidates, who have prior knowledge about this field, have worked in this domain and must have some skills which are mandatory in this field of law.
If we are successful in accomplishing all the above-mentioned points, then nobody can stop one from practising law in the States and earning in dollars.

Conclusion

The concluding remarks would be, acquiring knowledge and skills together by reading extensively regarding this subject of law, and on a time to time basis, interning or working under an antitrust/competition lawyer or at a law firm. This will enhance your previous understandings and will clear your basics even more. A person can even do certification courses online regarding this field. One can even pursue his/her master’s from law colleges which are better known for their competition/antitrust laws panel. Since, the demand for this role is high and so is the monetary gains or the minimum salary guaranteed in this field is comparatively higher than any other law field. Students having interest in this field can help them to even practice cross borders and will help them to earn even more. Antitrust laws are the future.