Antitrust Attorneys Portland ME

And You'll Realize That You Can Talk With Your Competitor (Even About Pricing).

By James A. Castleman
11/1/2005

If you belong to an autobody trade association, chances are many of your meetings start with a reading of the so-called "antitrust guidelines" - which include something about not discussing prices or claims practices of insurers.

You've probably heard the words many times, but you probably haven't listened very carefully. And even if you have, you still may have no idea what the words actually mean.

Even if you haven't heard the actual guidelines, you've likely heard some warning, somewhere about not doing things that would be considered "price fixing" or otherwise violating antitrust laws.

In my law practice, antitrust issues arise much more frequently with regard to autobody shops than with the other businesses I represent. Why more buzz about potential antitrust activity in the autobody industry? It appears to me that there are two main factors:

First, there's a perception among shop owners that large, omnipotent, economically powerful insurers control prices and methods of repair, and many people in the industry believe that the only way to fight this is to engage in a joint effort against the insurers. Unfortunately, this could lead to improper actions by overly zealous shop owners.

Second, the insurance industry itself has a huge stake in what they pay for auto damage claims, and members of that industry have no qualms about making compla...