As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the American Antitrust Institute (AAI) is an appropriate recipient of cy pres awards. Cy pres awards help fund AAI activities that indirectly benefit the victims of antitrust violations by improving the administration of the antitrust laws.
The AAI has been considered a qualified cy pres recipient in a number of antitrust class actions dating back to 2001. As Judge Gleeson noted in approving a cy pres award to the AAI in In re Visa Check/Mastermoney Antitrust Litigation, “AAI has made significant contributions to the development and enforcement of the antitrust laws and will no doubt make effective use of the funds it receives.”
Some AAI Projects Made Possible by Cy Pres Awards
The AAI has received cy pres awards earmarked for particular projects, including, among others:
- An award-winning educational documentary, Fair Fight in the Marketplace. The film aired widely on public television and has been used in high school and college curricula. The project utilized a cy pres grant from the California Vitamins Cartel litigation.
- Three years of annual Judicial Education seminars. These seminars began in 2013 and have been held at Stanford University and co-sponsored over three years by the AAI, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), Stanford Law School Program in Law, Science & Technology (LST Program), and Stanford Graduate School of Business. The programs have utilized cy pres grants from Massachusetts and California courts and In re Vitamin C Antitrust Litigation.
AAI Programs Supported by Unrestricted Cy Pres Awards
Unrestricted cy pres awards have supported the whole range of AAI’s educational, research, and advocacy activities and achievements, including:
- The AAI regularly hosts academic conferences, seminars, and symposia. These include free workshops to teach public interest groups about the complexities of antitrust law and economics so they can be more effective consumer advocates.
- The AAI advocates on behalf of consumers and innovative competitors before federal and state agencies and courts on a wide range of issues. The AAI’s amicus program, initially made possible by a cy pres grant, has filed nearly 100 amicus briefs in the federal courts. In the U.S. Supreme Court’s Pacific Bell Telephone Co. v. Linkline Communications, Inc. case, the AAI was invited by the Court to provide oral argument as amicus curiae.
- The AAI has generated a substantial body of policy studies and academic scholarship, publishing over 100 articles and reports on pressing antitrust issues.
Learn more about best practices for cy pres and distributing unclaimed funds in antitrust class actions in this article.
If you have questions about naming the American Antitrust Institute as a cy pres beneficiary, please contact AAI Vice President of Legal Advocacy Kathleen Bradish at kbradish@antitrustinstitute.org.
