Answer to Antitrust Complaint Template
(Federal)

Summary

This template is an answer to a class action complaint that alleged violations of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. The answer may be used in a federal antitrust case. This template includes sample responses, drafting notes, and alternate clauses. Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, an answer contains the defendant's responses to the complaint's allegations, affirmative or other defenses, and any counterclaims, crossclaims, or third-party claims the defendant intends to bring. It may also preserve a right to a jury trial, if applicable. Note this draft answer is based on any actual complaint and answer filed in federal district court. For convenience's sake, the allegations of the complaint are included in italicized text. In drafting an answer, you should consider whether the complaint alleges all the elements of an antitrust violation. For a summary and discussion of the elements of various types of antitrust claims, see the practice note Antitrust Claims: Identification and Analysis. Antitrust cases are often highly-fact specific and complicated. Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the defendant must serve an answer or response to a pleading within 21 days of being served with the complaint. Defendants must file an answer if they have been properly served with a summons and complaint, and the court has not granted a pre-answer motion to dismiss the suit. Often, however, the filing of an answer will be deferred during the pendency of a motion to dismiss in an antitrust action or otherwise deferred by agreement of the parties. This template also provides examples of common affirmative defenses in antitrust cases. For a list of antitrust immunities that constitute defenses, see the practice note Immunities and the Role of Antitrust in Regulated Industries. For a discussion of defenses to claims asserted under the Robinson-Patman Act, see practice note Robinson-Patman Act Section 2(a) Price Discrimination Claims: Defenses. For a discussion of the elements of, and defenses to, claims asserting that a merger or acquisition violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act, see the practice notes Horizontal Merger Analysis and Vertical Merger Analysis. Drafting counterclaims, crossclaims, and third-party claims are outside of the scope of this template. While the issue is case specific, the majority of antitrust cases do not in involve these types of pleadings. For a general discussion of drafting counterclaims and crossclaims, see Counterclaims: Asserting and Responding to Counterclaims (Federal) and Crossclaims: Asserting and Responding to Crossclaims (Federal). For a full listing of key content covering fundamental antitrust litigation tasks throughout a federal court litigation lifecycle, see Antitrust Litigation Resource Kit (Federal). For more on drafting answers in federal court generally, see Answering the Complaint (Federal) and Responding to a Complaint Flowchart (Federal).