Recent Limits on Municipal Antitrust Liability

Abstract

Introduction: Since 1978, the federal antitrust laws¹ have been a headache and potential source of substantial liability for local governments.² In the last two years, however, major legal events have relieved most of the antitrust pressure on local governments. The events are the passage of the Local Government Antitrust Act of 1984,³ the Supreme Court's decisions in Town of Hallie v. City of Eau Claire, 471 U.S. 34 (1985), 37 ZD 364, and Fisher v. Berkeley, 106 S. Ct. 1045 (1986), 38 ZD 199, and the district court granting judgment notwithstanding the verdict in Unity Ventures v. County of Lake, 631 F. Supp. 181 (N.D. Ill. 1986), 38 ZD 236. The latter judge's decision eliminated a $28.5 million judgment against the municipal defendants.