The Paul, Weiss Antitrust Practice advises clients on a full range of global antitrust matters, including antitrust regulatory clearance, government investigations, private litigation, and counseling and compliance. The firm represents clients before antitrust and competition authorities in the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions around the world.
Court of Appeals Upholds Antitrust Conspiracy Claim, Addresses Application of Twombly
January 18, 2011
A recent decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, authored by Judge Richard Posner, underscores that the pleading standard set forth in Bell Atlantic Corporation v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007) - though frequently applied in the lower courts - remains unsettled. Among other things, the Court of Appeals clarified that to state an antitrust claim, plaintiffs need not allege direct, "smoking gun" evidence of a conspiracy; however, the complaint must go beyond merely alleging that defendants engaged in parallel conduct and plead at least sufficient circumstantial facts to render an inference of conspiracy plausible.