F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. v. Empagran S.A.
United States Supreme Court
542 U.S. 155, 124 S.Ct. 2359, 159 L.Ed.2d 226 (2004)
- Written by Tom Syverson, JD
Facts
Empagran S.A. and other foreign and domestic companies that purchased vitamins for distribution (plaintiffs) filed a class action against several foreign and domestic vitamin sellers, including F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Ltd. (defendants). The vitamin purchasers alleged the vitamin sellers engaged in a price-fixing conspiracy. The vitamin sellers moved to dismiss the foreign purchasers’ claims, arguing these claims were based on foreign conduct that is outside the reach of domestic antitrust laws. The district court agreed and dismissed the foreign purchasers’ claims. The domestic purchasers pursued their claims in a separate suit. The court of appeals reversed the dismissal of the foreign purchasers. The court of appeals found that, even if the conduct at issue in the foreign purchasers’ claims only affected prices in foreign countries, the conduct was part of a conspiracy that, as a whole, had a direct and substantial effect on domestic commerce. The vitamin sellers filed a petition for certiorari with the United States Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Breyer, J.)
Concurrence (Scalia, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.