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Full-Text Articles in Law
Communication And Concerted Action, William H. Page
Communication And Concerted Action, William H. Page
William H. Page
It is a familiar scenario in U.S. antitrust litigation: The plaintiffs allege that a pattern of identical pricing (or refusals to deal) is "concerted" and therefore per se illegal; the defendant responds that the practice is merely "consciously parallel" or "interdependent" and therefore legal. Under U.S. law, to avoid summary judgment or judgment as a matter of law, a plaintiff must produce a "plus factor," evidence that "tends to exclude the possibility" that the defendants' actions were merely interdependent. Courts have identified various plus factors -- for example, evidence that the alleged conduct was against the defendant's interest unless it …
The Gary Dinners And The Meaning Of Concerted Action, William H. Page
The Gary Dinners And The Meaning Of Concerted Action, William H. Page
William H. Page
Between 1907 and 1911, executives of American steel manufacturers gathered in a series of social events and meetings that became known as the Gary dinners. Their founder, Judge Elbert H. Gary, chairman of the board of the United States Steel Corporation (U.S. Steel), believed the dinners were a lawful way to stabilize steel prices by enabling manufacturers to tell each other "frankly and freely what they were doing, how much business they were doing, what prices they were charging, how much wages they were paying their men, and... all information concerning their business." The government agreed that the dinners stabilized …