January Antitrust Bulletin - 2014

Sixth Circuit Issues Detailed Reversal of Summary Judgment in Antitrust Class Action

On Jan. 3, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed a district court's grant of summary judgment to the defendants in an antitrust class action alleging a market-division and output-restriction conspiracy involving raw and processed milk. The court's detailed decision addressed four principal issues: (1) whether the conspiracy as alleged would have constituted a per se violation, or instead would have been subject to the less stringent "rule of reason" analysis; (2) whether or not such a rule of reason analysis could appropriately be limited to a "quick look" analysis in that case; (3) whether the district court erred in excluding the plaintiffs' expert testimony regarding the relevant geographic market — a necessary element of a full rule of reason analysis — under Daubert; and (4) whether the plaintiffs' expert testimony adequately established