The federal antitrust laws focus on business practices that drive up prices or otherwise harm consumers by eliminating competition. This Toolkit includes resources that provide state and local government attorneys a general understanding of federal antitrust laws.

State and local governments may be subject to lawsuits claiming that their actions harm competition in violation of federal antitrust laws. When handling this claim, government attorneys should be aware of common law and statutory exceptions that may provide antitrust immunity to their public client in certain situations, such as:

The resources in this Toolkit provide an overview of federal antitrust law that public entities need to consider when navigating a federal antitrust claim. The Toolkit also provides antitrust resources on specific topics that are particularly relevant to state and local governments, such as healthcare and standard setting. Many states have their own antitrust laws that may not provide the same antitrust immunities to local governments as are available under federal law. Although the resources in this Toolkit were written for private-sector counsel, the content is useful to all lawyers, regardless of sector or industry.