Law, Strategy, and Risk in Commercial Disputes
Blawgletter's friend Sam Simon asked us to visit this morning with the Class Action Committee of the New York State Bar's Antitrust Section, and the chair — whom we also count as a friend — Hollis Salzman gave her okay.
You can see below the remarks we wrote out (plus a Q&A at the end to reflect…
The Third Circuit today affirmed a class certification order in an antitrust case.
The case, Behrend v. Comcast Corp., No. 10-2865 (3d Cir. Aug. 23, 2011), involves claims that Comcast violated sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act and that the antitrust violations allowed Comcast to overcharge Philadelphia cable subscribers.
The court's 2-1…
If you work much on antitrust lawsuits, you learn the names of cases that inspire strong feelings on both sides of the "v." Concord Boat lives in that realm.
The Eighth Circuit ruled after a jury trial in Concord Boat Corp. v. Brunswick Corp., 207 F.3d 1039 (8th Cir. 2000), that 24 boat-makers had no antitrust…
Why do we have antitrust laws?
The Supreme Court has called them "the Magna Carta of free enterprise", United States v. Topco Assocs., Inc., 405 U.S. 596, 610 (1972), and the Sherman Act "a comprehensive charter of economic liberty", Northern Pac. R.R. Co. v. United States, 356 U.S. 1, 4 (1958).
Sounds great. But…
Blawgletter just wrote a paper for an American Bar Association newsletter. It starts thus:
You know that the Supreme Court took no antitrust cases in its (current) October 2010 Term, right? You feel either sad (defense lawyer) or happy (plaintiff side), yes? We’ll have no Twombly,[1] no Leegin,[2] no Weyerhaeuser…
Do you text? You know — that typey thing you do with your mobile phone. Choose the number, key in the words, hit send and — presto — the text goes over the wireless network to your best friend's Storm/iPhone/Android/Pixon/i8510/Touch HD/n85/Renoir.
Easy, right? But not cheap.
Which fact seems to have prompted the filing of…
Today the Second Circuit upheld a judgment against cigarette makers who claimed that two New York statutes violated section 1 of the Sherman Act and the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. Freedom Holdings, Inc. v. Cuomo, No. 09-0547-cv (2d Cir. Oct. 18, 2010).
The Empire State passed the laws — which the court…
The attorneys-general of eight states plus the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice have settled antitrust claims against Visa and MasterCard over their restrictions on merchants' freedom to steer customers away from cards that carry high acceptance charges.
They also sued American Express after it declined to settle.
The pact with Visa and MasterCard…
Seldom does Blawgletter get the pleasure of reading an Intriguing and Forceful Analysis of a recent and important court of appeals decision. Our dear friend Sam Simon blessed us with his views about In re Ins. Brokerage Antitrust Litig., No. 07-4046 (3d Cir. Aug. 16, 2010) (post here), today. And, with his kind…
The Third Circuit came out last week with a 200-page rumination on the post-Twombly plausibility of conspiracies under section 1 of the Sherman Act (and the Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act). In re Ins. Brokerage Antitrust Litig., No. 07-4046 (3d Cir. Aug. 16, 2010).
The court upheld dismissal of hub-and-spoke conspiracy claims that…