Supreme Court to Review Antitrust Case Against Phone Companies

SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW ANTITRUST CASE AGAINST PHONE COMPANIES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Stephen Labaton]
The Supreme Court announced Monday that it would consider a lawsuit that accuses the nation's largest telephone companies of violating federal antitrust law by conspiring to carve up local markets to preserve their monopolies. AT&T, Verizon and Qwest asked the court to rule after they failed to persuade an appeals court that the large consumer action should be dismissed for lack of evidence. The complaint by the consumers did not offer direct evidence of a conspiracy. Instead, it relied on the fact that the companies had engaged in "parallel conduct" of not moving into each other's service areas. The phone companies said the standard set by the appeals court was so low that it would inevitably encourage baseless lawsuits. The case has gained attention because it could set the standard for motions to dismiss antitrust claims filed under Section 1 of the Sherman Act. A collection of influential business interests, some of whom have been defendants in antitrust cases, has filed briefs supporting the phone companies. They include the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the National Association of Manufacturers and companies in the airline, commodities, credit card and chemical industries. The appeals court told the telephone companies that there would be ample opportunity for them to make the case at trial that there was not enough evidence to prove a conspiracy. The telephone appeal, Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, No. 05-1126, will be heard in the Supreme Court's next term, which begins in October.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/27/business/27bizcourt.html
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