Eiszner Submits Antitrust Comment
SHB Partner Jim Eiszner (KC -- Business Litigation) has submitted a comment to the Antitrust Modernization Commission as it deliberates possible modifications to the Clayton Act's treble damages remedy. The commission is charged with recommending antitrust law changes to Congress and specifically sought public comment about civil remedies.
Jim's comment, which has been posted on the commission's Web site, incorporates an article he wrote, "Antitrust Civil Damages Remedies: The Consumer Welfare Perspective," that will be published this spring in the UMKC Law Review. Jim contends that "Congress should amend the civil remedies for 'hard core' violations [such as price-fixing and bid-rigging] to permit recovery of only single or perhaps double damages . . . while retaining the treble-damages remedy for those classes of violations that cannot be prosecuted criminally." According to Jim, consumers are "likely being forced to bear significant costs for too much deterrence," because the vast majority of companies can pass along some or all of the costs of unneeded deterrence to consumers. He has also requested that the commission retain joint and several liability in its current form, "because it has the effect of amplifying the deterrent effect of the civil damages remedy in all cases without adversely affecting consumer welfare."
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