DOJ Seeks to End 1963 Auto Repair Consent Decree

Aug. 12, 2019
The U.S. Department of Justice recently proposed terminating the 1963 consent decree reached between the government and auto insurance trade groups.

Aug. 12, 2019—The U.S. Department of Justice recently proposed terminating the 1963 consent decree reached between the government and auto insurance trade groups.

In April 2018, the Attorney General Jeff Session's Justice Department announced plans to review about 1,300 legacy antitrust judgements to identify those that no longer served to protect competition.  Nearly 1300 “legacy” judgments remain on the books of the Antitrust Division, and nearly all of them likely remain open on the dockets of courts around the country, the statement said. The vast majority of these judgments no longer protect competition because of changes in industry conditions, for example.

During the first week of August, Attorney General William Barr's DOJ proposed the Nov. 27, 1963 consent decree for elimination.

Collision repairers, insurers and other interested parties have a deadline of Sept. 2 to provide public comment on the government’s proposal. Comments should be directed to [email protected] and in the subject line include the case name (U.S. v. Association of Casualty and Surety Companies, et al) and docket number (63 Civ. 3106).

The motion to terminate the consent decree would be filed in the U.S. Southern District of New York. Both the U.S. and the insurer defendant trade groups the Association of Casualty and Surety Companies, American Mutual Insurance Alliance and National Association of Mutual Casualty Companies agreed to the judgment.

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