The only thing standing between American consumers and the red-hot wave of mega-mergers and acquisitions—an impressive $1.1 trillion in U.S. mergers in the first half of 1998—is the government's platoon of trustbusters, a gray, pin-striped line led by two consummate Washington lawyers: U.S. assistant attorney general in charge of anti-trust Joel Klein and Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission Robert Pitofsky.

Last May—in arguably the most sensational anti-trust case since the breakup of Ma Bell—Klein sued Microsoft for allegedly using its monopoly operating system to conquer the Internet-browser market. The government lost an early ruling, when a three-judge panel found that Microsoft could continue to bundle its Internet Explorer with Windows, as long as the result benefited customers. Shortly thereafter, Pitofsky sued Intel for allegedly using its market dominance to bully computer manufacturers. Both cases are pending.

In 1997, shortly after Klein was nominated to his current job, he approved the controversial merger of Bell Atlantic and Nynex. Critics on both the left and the right howled, nearly causing the Senate to reject his appointment. He squeaked through, but some attribute his subsequent vigilance (particularly in the Microsoft case) to lessons learned. If Klein is the forceful jurist, Pitofsky is the seasoned scholar. Sometimes called "the dean of the anti-trust bar," Pitofsky served as dean of Georgetown's Law Center between two previous stints at the F.T.C. Pitofsky and the F.T.C. had the first crack at the Microsoft case, but the commission deadlocked on deciding to proceed—which cleared the way for Klein and his team at Justice. Pitofsky's critics have charged that the F.T.C.'s subsequent action against Intel was a way to avoid getting one-upped by its crosstown competitor, but, a little sibling rivalry notwithstanding, the relationship between the agencies is said to be collegial. The two principals lunch regularly and even engage in an occasional set of tennis. Pitofsky acknowledges that Klein is the better player, but says the two don't face each other very often. "We usually play on the same side of the net," he says.