The Private Attorney General in a Global Age: Public Interests in Private International Antitrust Litigation

Abstract

The private attorney general is a creature of domestic law, designed to assist government agencies in enforcing various statutes through private causes of action. As the growth in transnational commerce has necessitated the more frequent application of those statutes in international settings, the private attorney general has come to play a role on the global stage as well. This role involves both the private interests of an individual plaintiff and the public interests embodied in the statutory laws being enforced. Precisely because of this dual role, the private attorney general can also serve as a useful tool for exploring developments in international economic regulation. This Article uses the role of the private attorney general to examine the growing inconsistency in judicial evaluations of the public interests at stake in regulatory disputes.