Mercatus Group, LLC v. Lake Forest Hosp. (Summary)

ANTITRUST

Mercatus Group, LLC v. Lake Forest Hosp., No. 07 C 2042 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 16, 2010)

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted the hospital’s motion for summary judgment on federal antitrust claims and declined to exercise jurisdiction over the remaining state law claims in a case involving a physician practice that was denied, by the city Board of Trustees, both development and site plan approval for a new physician center. The plaintiff claimed that the hospital’s influence on the Board’s decision was an attempt to monopolize the market for both diagnostic imaging services and comprehensive physician services. The district court held that the Noeerr-Pennington doctrine applied to the Board of Trustees’ legislative activity, granting the hospital immunity from liability based on, among other things, lobbying efforts and public statements. The court also noted that the hospital’s non‑petitioning conduct did not constitute sufficient evidence that gave rise to an anticompetitive violation. As summary judgment was granted to the hospital on the federal claims, the district court, in exercise of its discretion, declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims.