Welcome to the Distribution & Franchising Committee Webpage! About Us The Committee consists of attorneys, economists and others with an interest in the wide range of antitrust/competition issues arising in connection with the distribution of products and services. Through its publications, programs and communications, the Committee monitors and reports on distribution-related antitrust developments in the U.S., as well as the European Union, Canada, and other jurisdictions. Get Involved and Stay Informed! We invite Section members to join the Committee and hope that you will actively participate in its activities. If you are interested in becoming involved in the activities of the Committee, please do not hesitate to contact any member of the Committee Leadership. Our contact information is available by clicking on any of the name links on the right of this page. In particular, our Committee Chair, Erika Amarante, along with our newest Vice-Chair, Thomas Ensign, are focused on recruiting new members and getting both new and existing members more involved in the Committee. Please let us hear from you. You may also find it helpful to subscribe to our Committee listserv, which we use to notify our members of noteworthy distribution and franchising related developments (in the U.S. and elsewhere). If you are interested in subscribing (or if you become aware of an issue that you think we should share), please contact Erika Douglas or Jason Dubner. You may also click on the "subscribe" link in the lower-right hand corner of this page. We also invite you to join us on Linked-In for updates on distribution and franchising developments and to connect with others interested in competition issues related to distribution and franchising. Publications
The Committee periodically publishes Distribution, a newsletter containing both cutting-edge analysis of distribution-related antitrust issues as well as practical tips on dealing with distribution issues encountered in daily practice. The editors of Distribution also routinely solicit and publish articles outlining developments in jurisdictions outside the U.S. which are of interest to the membership. We welcome submissions and ideas for articles from Committee members. Please contact Michelle Burtis or Erika Douglas for further information. Past issues of Distribution are accessible here.
We also have a long history of publishing practice-oriented manuals on distribution & franchising issues. Projects that the Committee is presently working on or has completed include the Dealership Termination Handbook, and Antitrust Law and the Economics of Product Distribution. For further information about the publication activities of the Committee please contact Alicia Downey. Programming The Committee regularly sponsors and/or co-sponsors programs on distribution and franchise issues during the Spring Meeting and other Section meetings, as well as through teleseminars and town hall programs. The Committee co-sponsored 3 exciting and well-attended programs at the 2012 Spring Meeting: Go Low or Go Home! Monopsony a Problem?: Exploring monoposony in the agriculture supply chain and healthcare, focusing on whether the revised Merger Guidelines and recent enforcement actions reflect a valid and consistent approach to buyer power. Presented by the Agriculture & Food and Distribution & Franchising Committees. Yours, Mine, and the Web's: Pricing Distribution Channels: Discussing U.S., state, and foreign price discrimination and other laws while exploring functional discounts, MAP and RPM policies, "Add to Cart to See Price" features, and other pricing practices in the Internet Age. Presented by the Corporate Counseling, Distribution & Franchising and Joint Conduct Committees. 21st Century Antitrust Compliance Training: Beyond the Basics: Learn how cutting edge technology is creating better compliance tools to reduce the risks and consequences of antitrust liability for companies and their employees. Presented by the Complince and Ethics, Corporate Counseling, and Distribution & Franchising Committees. In addition to Spring Meeting programming, we have sponsored additional programming including teleseminars and CLE programs. For example, in May 2011 the Committee co-sponsored a teleseminar entitled "Smoothing the Distribution Path: Advising Clients on Antitrust Concerns in Channel Management." Most recently, we have started a "Distribution Update" teleseminar series. The first Distribution Update occurred in September 2011, and we plan to host the series 2-3 times per year. We are also eager to hear your ideas for future programming that might be of interest to the Committee membership at large. If there is a topic you think we should consider or if you are interested in helping put together one of our programs, please contact either Erika Amarante or Gary Kubek. Website Under the heading of Committee Resources, you will see a link on the upper right-hand corner of this page to our committee's "Knowledge Database." This is where we have included what we hope are useful resources relevant to distribution and franchising issues, in three sections: Recent Developments, Key Opinions, and Relevant Statutes. A good place to start if you're new to this area - or looking for a key precedent - is a document we've called a "Thumbnail Guide to Key Distribution and Franchise Cases," which is available under the Key Opinions header. If you are interested in helping us keep these links current, please contact Erika Douglas or Jason Dubner. Advisory Board The Committee has selected a group of individuals who have previously contributed to its publications and programming for appointment to the Committee's Advisory Board. We will look to our Advisory Board as continuing contributors to our ongoing work, and also to help steer the direction of the Committee going forward. The Advisory Board currently includes the following: Ted Banks, Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Thomas Funke, Joy Fuyuno, Quentin Wittrock, and Stephen Wu. If you have any questions or comments for or about the Committee, please do not hesitate to contact the members of the Board; we look forward to their participation and assistance throughout the coming year. Thanks! We thank you for visiting our page and hope you will check back frequently for updates. Feel free to bookmark us!
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