Page 10 - Anti Trust for Board Leadership_Neat
P. 10
Informal Meetings
The association should prohibit the use
of association offices or facilities for
“informal” or “rump” meetings of
members. Given their unauthorized
character, meetings of this type are
uniquely susceptible to abuse and
misinterpretation. To the extent an
incriminating meeting takes place at the
association office, or elsewhere with the
knowledge and consent of association
leadership, the association itself could be
implicated in any antitrust litigation that
arises from the meeting.
FOLLOW APPROPRIATE
“BOARD OF CHOICE”
PRACTICES
Competition Among Associations
Under the “Board of Choice” concept
associations compete with each other to
attract and retain members and deliver to
them association products and services.
The status of associations as competitors
requires them to be sensitive to how the
antitrust laws apply to their actions as
competitors of other associations. The
most obvious and perhaps most serious
violation of the antitrust laws is, of course,
pricefixing. Associations may not agree or
confer about their prices, that is, the dues
and fees they charge for membership and
other services.
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