A Primer on the Law of Joint Purchasing

Joint purchasing is a growing phenomenon as businesses join together in a variety of purchasing arrangements to reduce overhead costs and achieve lower purchase prices. While agreements between buyers are generally treated more leniently than agreements between sellers, antitrust issues can be presented by various features of a buying group - including the group's structure, membership policies, purchase volumes, cost of collectively-purchased items, and information sharing policies - as well as price discrimination. The Section of Antitrust Law of the American Bar Association has developed this general guide to the law of joint purchasing to aid non-antitrust lawyers' and business managers' understanding of when and how the antitrust laws apply to group purchasing arrangements. It is written primarily to help businesspersons to understand the risks and comply with the law. This primer is not a substitute for legal advice but, rather, is offered as background to help spot issues so that advice may be sought from an experienced attorney. The booklets are about the size of a pocket journal and have a space on the back to identify the law firm or company and contact counsel.
They are available singly and, at substantial discounts, in convenient packs of 25 copies each.