Fraudulent Concealment Allegations in Federal Antitrust Cases

Summary

These clauses, Fraudulent Concealment Allegations in Federal Antitrust Cases, are allegations you can use in conspiracy cases to plead around the statute of limitations, which is four years, on the ground the cause of action was concealed by the defendant. Rule 9(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires that the facts establishing fraudulent concealment be pled with particularity. USCS Fed Rules Civ Proc R 9(b). This template includes practical guidance and drafting notes. Generally, to successfully prove fraudulent concealment, the plaintiff must show three things: (1) the defendant used fraudulent means to conceal the existence of the cause of action, which requires more than silence; (2) the cause of action was successfully concealed from the plaintiff or, phrased differently, the plaintiff had no knowledge of the cause of action within the original; and (3) the plaintiff did not act negligently in failing to discover the alleged violations within the statute of limitations, which generally requires that the plaintiff lacked information which would have prompted a reasonable person to investigate. For a more comprehensive list of related antitrust litigation content, see Antitrust Litigation Resource Kit (Federal). For a detailed discussion of the fraudulent concealment doctrine, see von Kalinowski, Sullivan & McGuirl, Antitrust Laws and Trade Regulation § 162.04[3] (2d ed. Matthew Bender).