Devoted to Corporate Attorneys, Corporate Lawyers, and Corporate Counsel

On February 20, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated and remanded a decision of the Ninth Circuit in Weyerhaeuser Co. v. Ross-Simmons Hardwood Lumber Co., Inc.   Weyerhaeuser Co. v. Ross-Simmons Hardwood Lumber Co., Inc. is a case about limits on liability in predatory-bidding cases, where Ross-Simmons, a sawmill, sued Weyerhaeuser, a competing sawmill.  The lawsuit alleged that Weyerhaeuser used its market share to bid up the price of sawlogs and ultimately drove Ross-Simmons out of business in 2001.

The case provides guidance for those companies that aggressively bid in limited-supply situations.  In an opinion authored by Justice Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court rejected 9-0, the Ninth Circuit's holding that predatory pricing can be established if a company purchased more inputs than needed or paid more for inputs than necessary to prevent competitors from obtaining inputs.