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Judgment-Sharing Agreements, Christopher R. Leslie

Duke Law Journal

Antitrust law condemns price-fixing cartels and seeks to encourage private suits against the conspirators by automatically trebling antitrust damages and by providing for joint and several liability. Because the Supreme Court has held that there is no right to contribution among antitrust violators, this creates the risk of a single defendant being saddled with damages significantly greater than three times the amount of the harm associated with that firm's own market share. Firms engaged in-or accused of-price fixing often try to ameliorate this risk by entering into judgment-sharing agreements, which essentially create a right to contribution through contract. Despite their …