South Carolina Antitrust Lawyer Who Delivers Results, One Client At A Time

Since 1890, United States antitrust laws have protected businesses and consumers by prohibiting certain anticompetitive business practices, such as conspiracies in restraint of trade and monopolization. There are three major federal antitrust laws: the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Clayton Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act. These laws protect businesses and consumers from the following activities:

• Agreements among competitors to fix prices at artificially high levels to secure increased profits and sales;
• Agreements among competitors to allocate customers or markets to eliminate or reduce competition;
• Boycotts within an industry to prevent competitors from entering markets;
• Bid rigging by competitors to determine in advance which competitor will be awarded a particular contract; and
• Creation or misuse of monopoly power through wrongfully exclusionary means.

Various state legislatures have enacted parallel legislation allowing state court actions against businesses engaged in anticompetitive conduct. In many instances, state laws go beyond the protections afforded under the federal statutes by providing civil litigation remedies for indirect purchasers (i.e., third party purchasers who did not buy directly from the price-fixing or monopolizing entity).

Although government agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice and state attorney general’s offices enforce the antitrust laws, individuals and businesses may bring private, civil antitrust suits to recover damages as a result of anticompetitive conduct. Often, antitrust victims bring these private suits as class actions.

Contact an experienced antitrust litigation law firm today

Antitrust litigation cases are usually substantial in their size and economic impact, often involving damages in the tens of millions of dollars or sometimes much larger in scope. In addition, these cases often involve complicated legal issues and factual patterns, which require the skills, ingenuity and perseverance of experienced litigators.

The South Carolina antitrust lawyers with McGowan, Hood, Felder & Phillips LLC have the ability to represent clients who have suffered injury or damages from a business entity’s antitrust violations. If you are unsure whether you have an antitrust case against a company, contact the South Carolina antitrust attorneys at McGowan, Hood, Felder & Phillips, LLC toll free at 803-327-7800.