Opinion ID: 1231500
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Federal Law as Persuasive Authority

Text: In their first assignment of error, Appellants contend that the circuit court erred in applying federal law when analyzing their claims. Pursuant to W. Va.Code § 47-18-16 (1978), the Legislature has directed that the WVATA shall be construed liberally and in harmony with ruling judicial interpretations of comparable federal antitrust statutes. Moreover, this Court held in Syllabus Point 2 of Gray v. Marshall County Board of Education, 179 W.Va. 282, 367 S.E.2d 751 (1988), that [t]he courts of this state are directed by the legislature in W. Va.Code, 47-18-16 [1978] to apply the federal decisional law interpreting the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, to our own parallel antitrust statute, W. Va. Code, 47-18-3(a) [1978]. Appellants argue that because their claims are based upon subsection (b) of W. Va.Code § 47-18-3 and not subsection (a), federal decisional law is irrelevant. Indeed, this Court has noted that it is not bound to apply federal law in determining the scope of the WVATA where the federal and state provisions are not comparable. State ex rel. Palumbo v. Graley's Body Shop, Inc., 188 W.Va. 501, 507, 425 S.E.2d 177, 183 (1992). The distinction between subsections (a) and (b) of W. Va.Code § 47-18-3 is not as clear as Appellants would argue. As noted above, Appellants simply alleged restraint of trade in their complaint. Arguably, subsection (a) which provides that contracts in restraint of trade or commerce are deemed unlawful in this State is therefore relevant. In an effort to avoid reference to federal law, however, Appellants contend that their claims are based solely upon W. Va.Code § 47-18-3(b), which they deem as a codification of practices deemed to be per se restraints of trade without reference to either subsection (a) or federal law. Arguing that the Sherman Act does not codify similar per se practices deemed to restrain trade, Appellants maintain there is no comparable federal law to apply. After consideration of the status of federal law at the time the WVATA was enacted, we reject Appellants' comparability argument. i.