Sherman and Clayton Acts Checklist and FAQs

The Four-Door Rival Walk is a short self-check that passes four doors where antitrust trouble usually starts: prices, bids and customers, workers, and deals. The legal background is on the overview and rules and numbers pages.

The Four-Door Rival Walk

1. Door one, prices: list who sets your prices, discounts, credit terms and fees, and confirm those choices are made by your business alone.
2. Door one, contact log: note every meeting or call with a competitor and check that none touched prices, bids, customers or pay.
3. Door two, bids and customers: review recent bids for any contact with other bidders, and check that no customer or territory split exists, even an informal one.
4. Door three, workers: look for any understanding with another employer about pay, benefits or not hiring each other's staff, and for pay surveys that name current pay at specific competitors.
5. Door four, associations: check what data your trade association collects and shares, remembering that exchanging current prices can raise antitrust concerns, and read the bylaws and standard contracts for price or term language.
6. Door four, deals: before buying, selling or merging, compare the deal value with the $133.9 million HSR line (2026) and remember Clayton section 7 applies to any size.
7. Door four, boards: check that no one is a director or officer of two competing corporations above the $54,402,000 line (2026).

Common mistakes

• Competitors comparing current or future prices, bids, discounts or credit terms at association meetings.
• Matching a rival's price after a phone call instead of deciding independently.
• Cover or courtesy bids and bid rotation on public work.
• Informal agreements not to hire or cold-call each other's employees.
• Sharing wage and benefit surveys that name current pay at competitors, including through a consultant or software.
• Assuming a small deal needs no review because it is under the HSR size.
• Association bylaws or standard contracts that quietly set prices or terms.
• Hiding an investigation from a buyer of the business.

When to talk to an attorney

A CPA cannot answer these questions. Owners commonly call an attorney when:

• A competitor raises prices, bids, territories, customers or wages. Stop the conversation first.
• A subpoena, civil investigative demand or call arrives from the DOJ, the FTC or a state attorney general.
• A purchase, sale or merger involves a rival or sits near the HSR line.
• A trade association benchmarking program or joint purchasing group is under discussion.
• Self-reporting to the DOJ leniency program is on the table.

Frequently asked questions