Municipal Activities and the Antitrust Laws after City of Lafayette

University of Detroit Journal of Urban Law, Vol. 57, p. 483, 1980

40 Pages Posted: 18 Jun 2009

See all articles by Jonathan Rose

Jonathan Rose

Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law Arizona State University College of Law

Date Written: 1980

Abstract

The Supreme Court decision in City of Lafayette v. Louisiana Power & Light and certain other institutional factors are likely to cause a rise in antitrust litigation involving municipalities. Therefore, it is important for local governmental units to know what types of actions are most likely to produce antitrust litigation. The purpose of this paper is to identify those types of municipal activities. The types of antitrust violations that may be alleged are varied and numerous. With the exception of mergers, antitrust charges against municipalities are not likely to differ greatly from antitrust litigation generally. The most common allegations are likely to involve violations of section 1 of the Sherman Act, such as price fixing, concerted refusals to deal, or division of the market by competitors; violations of section 3 of the Clayton Act, such as tying agreements or exclusive dealing agreements; or violations of section 2 of the Sherman Act, such as monopolization or attempts to monopolize as a result of refusals to deal. This paper examines the particular types of antitrust violations in connection with the particular types of municipal activities that are likely to give rise to antitrust litigation. One important respect in which municipal antitrust litigation will differ from antitrust litigation generally is that the former will often involve claims that conduct is exempt from the antitrust laws under the Parker or Noerr doctrines.

Keywords: municipality, antitrust, Sherman Act

Suggested Citation

Rose, Jonathan, Municipal Activities and the Antitrust Laws after City of Lafayette (1980). University of Detroit Journal of Urban Law, Vol. 57, p. 483, 1980, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1422125

Jonathan Rose (Contact Author)

Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law Arizona State University College of Law ( email )

Mail Code 9520
111 East Taylor St.
Phoenix, AZ 85004-4467
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480-965-6513 (Phone)

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