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Note: 

Roy Kimberly Snell, The Use of Grand Jury Transcripts in Private Antitrust Litigation:  An Argument for Automatic Access, 58 TEXAS L. REV. 647 (1980). 

Section 5(a) of the Clayton Antitrust Act established prior federal criminal or civil judgments as prima facie evidence of liability in a subsequent private antitrust suit.  Private plaintiffs have not hesitated to help themselves to the procedural advantages of this provision by filing treble damage suits after successful federal antitrust prosecutions.  These private plaintiffs seek access to prosecutorial files.  This proves problematic, particularly for grand jury testimony transcripts.  The rule of secrecy has generally prevented private litigants from accessing transcripts of grand jury proceedings absent a “compelling need.”  This Note proposes that automatic access by private plaintiffs to grand jury testimony of corporate officers and employees would be a sensible addition to federal antitrust law.