Herbert Hovenkamp
James G. Dinan University Professor
Herbert Hovenkamp is the James G. Dinan University Professor at Penn Carey Law and the Wharton School. He is widely considered the most influential antitrust scholar in the United States and continues the monumental Areeda-Hovenkamp antitrust treatise, the most cited legal treatise in American law. He received the Department of Justice's John Sherman Award for lifetime contributions to antitrust law. Before joining Penn in 2017, he spent more than thirty years at the University of Iowa College of Law. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Teaching Style
Professor Hovenkamp, widely known as the 'Dean of American Antitrust Law,' brings unmatched depth and authority to the classroom. He uses the Socratic method with a focus on economic reasoning and market analysis, expecting students to evaluate antitrust rules through the lens of consumer welfare and competitive effects. He cold-calls students and moves through material efficiently, drawing on his encyclopedic knowledge of antitrust case law and economic theory.
Cold Call Tips
- 1Master the basic economic framework of antitrust — market definition, market power, barriers to entry, and competitive effects analysis
- 2Know the major antitrust statutes (Sherman Act, Clayton Act, FTC Act) and the key Supreme Court cases for each area
- 3Be prepared to discuss both per se rules and the rule of reason, and to articulate when each applies and why
- 4Understand the intersection of antitrust and intellectual property — Hovenkamp writes extensively about how patent and antitrust law interact
Areas of Expertise
Education
- J.D., University of Texas School of Law
- Ph.D., University of Texas (History)
- B.A., Calvin College
Notable Publications
- Antitrust Law (treatise, 18 volumes, continuing the Areeda-Hovenkamp treatise)
- Federal Antitrust Policy: The Law of Competition and Its Practice (casebook)
- The Antitrust Enterprise: Principle and Execution (2005)
Research Interests
More Professors at University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Regulatory Policy
Bankruptcy, Corporate Law, Financial Regulation
Corporations, Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate Governance, Startups and Venture Capital
Constitutional Law, Conflict of Laws, Civil Rights
Comparative Law, Legal Philosophy, International Law