The Antitrust Attorney Blog

Blog Authors

justia.admin

Bona Law PC

Latest from The Antitrust Attorney Blog

The Antitrust Attorney Blog

Six key attributes of an effective antitrust compliance program

By Bona Law PC

November 11, 2019

Author: Aaron Gott If you haven’t been told you need a strong antitrust compliance program, then you probably haven’t spent much time with an antitrust lawyer. But it’s true: a strong antitrust compliance program will benefit your company in myriad ways. The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division recently announced it will consider an effective antitrust compliance program as a factor in deciding whether to charge a company with a criminal antitrust violation.…

The Antitrust Attorney Blog

The Capper-Volstead Act Gives Farm Cooperatives a Limited Exemption from Antitrust Liability

By Bona Law PC

October 29, 2019

Author: Aaron Gott The federal antitrust laws are a decisive proclamation that competition is the best policy—competition leads to better products and services, the greatest value at the lowest price. But, just like with anything else, there are exceptions. Congress and the courts have carved out numerous exceptions from antitrust liability—or as we’ll call them, exemptions. There’s an insurance exemption, a labor exemption, a baseball exemption, a state-action exemption,…

The Antitrust Attorney Blog

Baseball and the Antitrust Laws Part II: The Owners Strike Back (and Strike Out)

By Bona Law PC

October 11, 2019

Author: Luke Hasskamp This is the second of a series of articles examining some of the interesting intersections between the law and baseball, with a focus on baseball’s exemption from federal and state antitrust laws. (Though, like the first article, this one does not quite reach the antitrust issues, as the initial challenges were brought under contract law.) The first article looked at some of the early conflict between professional baseball players and…

The Antitrust Attorney Blog

Baseball and the Antitrust Laws Part I: The Origins of the Reserve Clause

By Bona Law PC

October 4, 2019

Author: Luke Hasskamp This is the first of a series of articles intended to address some of the interesting intersections between the law and baseball, particularly baseball’s curious exemption from federal and state antitrust laws. More generally, it’s about the struggle between team owners and players since the dawn of professional baseball, and some of the quirks to emerge along the way. This article starts at the beginning with a fledgling set of teams…

The Antitrust Attorney Blog

Is an Anticompetitive Contract Clause an Ancillary Restraint that will survive Antitrust Scrutiny?

By Bona Law PC

September 30, 2019

As a regular reader of The Antitrust Attorney Blog, you understand that setting prices or allocating markets with your competitor is a terrible idea. Doing so is likely to lead to civil litigation and perhaps even criminal penalties. Price fixing and market allocation agreements are per se antitrust violations. That means they are the worst of the worst of anticompetitive conduct. There is, however, a limited circumstance in which what would normally be…

The Antitrust Attorney Blog

Indirect Purchaser Antitrust Lawsuits, Illinois Brick, and Apple v. Pepper (Part 1)

By Bona Law PC

September 29, 2019

Illinois-Brick-and-Indirect-Purchaser-Antitrust-Claims-300x200.jpg

Author: Jarod Bona Thanks to a 1977 US Supreme Court case called Illinois Brick v. Illinois, class-action-antitrust plaintiff claims may look strange. You might expect to see named plaintiffs for a class of allegedly injured parties suing defendants (and it is usually multiple defendants) under the federal antitrust laws for damages. And you do see that—those are usually called the “direct purchasers.” But what is unexpected is that you also often see another separate…

The Antitrust Attorney Blog

Bid-Rigging is a Per Se Violation of the Antitrust Laws

By Bona Law PC

September 26, 2019

Author: Jarod Bona In the market, there are many ways to buy and sell products or services. For example, if you want to purchase some almond milk, you can walk into a grocery store, go to the milk section, examine the prices of the different brands, and if one of them is acceptable to you, carry that milk to the register and pay the listed price. Similarly, if you want to purchase a Fitbit …

The Antitrust Attorney Blog

Is My Restrictive Covenant Legal Under California Law?

By Bona Law PC

September 20, 2019

Author: Jarod Bona It depends. But probably not. Outside of California, courts may enforce these non-compete agreements arising out of an employment contract. Of course, most courts, no matter what the law and state, view them skeptically. In California, however, the policy against these agreements is particularly strong. A restrictive covenant is often part of an employment agreement that restricts the employee’s actions after leaving employment. They typically prohibit the employee from competing…

The Antitrust Attorney Blog

What is Noerr-Pennington Immunity and Is this Doctrine a Defense to an Antitrust Case?

By Bona Law PC

September 2, 2019

Author: Jarod Bona You might wonder why industry trade associations can lobby the government without obvious antitrust sanction, even when—which is common—they seek regulations or actions that ultimately harm competition. The answer is found in the Noerr-Pennington doctrine, which we will discuss today. What is the Noerr-Pennington Doctrine? The Noerr-Pennington immunity is a limited exemption from antitrust liability for certain actions by individuals or groups that are intending with that action to influence government decision-making,…

The Antitrust Attorney Blog

Applying the Antitrust Laws to Anticompetitive State and Local Government Conduct

By Bona Law PC

September 2, 2019

State-and-Local-Government-Antitrust-Violations-300x205.jpg

Author: Jarod Bona Lawyers, judges, economists, law professors, policy-makers, business leaders, trade-association officials, students, juries, and the readers of this blog combined spend incredible resources—time, money, or both—analyzing whether certain actions or agreements are anticompetitive or violate the antitrust laws. While superficially surprising, upon deeper reflection it makes sense because less competition in a market dramatically affects the prices, quantity, and quality of what companies supply in that market. In the aggregate, the economic…

The Antitrust Attorney Blog

Blog Authors

Six key attributes of an effective antitrust compliance program

The Capper-Volstead Act Gives Farm Cooperatives a Limited Exemption from Antitrust Liability

Baseball and the Antitrust Laws Part II: The Owners Strike Back (and Strike Out)

Baseball and the Antitrust Laws Part I: The Origins of the Reserve Clause

Is an Anticompetitive Contract Clause an Ancillary Restraint that will survive Antitrust Scrutiny?

Indirect Purchaser Antitrust Lawsuits, Illinois Brick, and Apple v. Pepper (Part 1)

Bid-Rigging is a Per Se Violation of the Antitrust Laws

Is My Restrictive Covenant Legal Under California Law?

What is Noerr-Pennington Immunity and Is this Doctrine a Defense to an Antitrust Case?

Applying the Antitrust Laws to Anticompetitive State and Local Government Conduct

Stay Connected

Company

Support

New to the Network