Two former top antitrust attorneys at the U.S. Department of Justice who were central to its case against Live Nation and Ticketmaster had strong words for the department following its abrupt settlement with the company just one week after the trial — which saw the DOJ and over 30 states accusing the company of monopolistic business practices — began in March.
“When I stood up and gave the opening statement in this case, I believed that we were going to win,” David Dahlquist, the former Deputy Director of Litigation and who led the case against, told the audience at the National Independent Venues Alliance’s annual conference, which began Monday in Minneapolis. “And when the settlement was entered, I still believed that we were going to win … I knew the case, I knew the witnesses, I knew the evidence.”
However, the case, filed under the Biden Administration and years in the making, was suddenly settled after a closed-door meeting DOJ officials and Live Nation, enraging U.S. District Court Judge Arun Subramamian, who presided over the trial and was blindsided by the settlement.
“From all sides the parties conduct here strains the bounds of responsible conduct and is inconsistent” with the principles in of the court, he said, as 27 of the states that were also named in the suit elected to continue.
