Court Opinion

ID: 8900870
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-11-27 01:06:41.854976+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:07:50.260149
License: Public Domain

FITZGERALD, District Judge,
dissenting:
This action arises from the fact that membership in the American Dental Association is a requirement for membership in the Arizona State Dental Association and the Central Arizona Dental Society. A licensed, practicing dentist in Arizona, such as plaintiffs, cannot belong to the State (ASDA) or local (CADS), society without also tendering dues for membership in the ADA. The ASDA and CADS collect annual ADA membership dues from their members and remit to the ADA. Plaintiffs object to the requirement of paying the ADA dues and complain that it violates sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act.
*633Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar, 421 U.S. 773, 95 S.Ct. 2004, 44 L.Ed.2d 572 (1975), makes clear that learned professions, including dentistry, are not beyond the reach of the Sherman Act. In Goldfarb, the professional conduct alleged to violate the Sherman Act was price fixing for legal services through use of a minimum fee schedule. The Virginia Bar argued for a wholesale exemption of legal profession activities from antitrust regulation, based on the rationale that competition is inconsistent with the practice of a profession since profit is not the principal goal of professional activities, which is to provide services necessary to the community. Recognizing this as the classic basis advanced to distinguish professions from trades, the Court observed that the rationale loses much of its force when used to support fee control activities. The Court noted that the practice of law as a profession has a business aspect; the exchange of legal services in return for the client’s money is “commerce.” However, the Court cautioned against automatically applying antitrust concepts from other areas to the professions. The fact that a restraint operates upon a profession as distinguished from a business is relevant in determining whether the particular restraint violates the Sherman Act. 421 U.S. at 787 n.17, 95 S.Ct. 2004.
In sum, I believe that Goldfarb narrowly holds that certain “business” or “commercial” activities of professionals are subject to antitrust regulation. Minimum fee schedules are obviously related to the commercial aspect of professional practice. Goldfarb instructs that any alleged restraint operating upon a profession should be closely examined in order to determine whether it restrains competition in professional services and thus involves the commercial aspect of professional practice.
The restraint imposed upon the dentists in the present case is simply that unless they belong to the American Dental Association, and pay its membership dues, they may not be members of either the state association or the local dental society. If the dentists fail to pay the ADA dues, they cannot participate in the activities of the state or local groups or attend seminars conducted by the various specialty professional and technical groups and societies in the several states. They may, however, continue to practice dentistry and to charge for these services as they see fit.
It is not alleged that the “restraint” consisting of the dual membership requirement functions to eliminate competition between dentists in providing dental services, or to restrict consumer choice of dental services. By contrast, the price fixing condemned in Goldfarb and the other cases1 relied upon by the dentists are classic conspiracies restraining competition in services, and per se violations of the Sherman Act under established antitrust principles.
Moreover, plaintiffs do not claim that the ADA membership requirement is designed for any purpose other than to promote the improvement of dental services. Membership dues paid to the American Dental Association support its nation-wide activities including the administration of dental aptitude tests, the accreditation of dental programs, and the publication and dissemination of professional journals. These activities are obviously designed to benefit the profession and improve the practice of dentistry. To the extent that this may be accomplished, the public is served.
The trial judge, as I understand his ruling, did not hold that learned professions are totally outside the scope of the Sherman Act. Rather he concluded that the particular professional activity at issue, the procedures and requirements for joining professional associations, falls outside the purview of the antitrust laws. I agree. Goldfarb does not go as far as to include within the *634scope of the Sherman Act professional activity, such as the ADA membership requirement, which has no alleged purpose or effect of suppressing competition between practitioners.
I would affirm the district court on another ground. Contrary to the majority conclusion, I do not believe the amended complaint alleges a trade restraint substantially affecting interstate commerce.
The amended complaint alleges that the defendant ADA engages in interstate commerce by using interstate communications facilities and by collecting dues from dentists and sending representatives to different states. However, the question is not simply whether the defendant engages in interstate commerce, but whether the alleged restraint substantially affects interstate commerce. The claim here is that the ADA membership requirement somehow restrains plaintiffs’ practice of dentistry. Yet plaintiffs do not claim that their dental practices involve interstate commerce. This distinguishes the instant case from Goldfarb, wherein the legal services, although performed in state, were an integral part of interstate real estate transactions.2 421 U.S. at 784, 95 S.Ct. 2004. The Supreme Court cautioned that there may be legal services that have no nexus with interstate commerce and therefore are beyond the reach of the Sherman Act. 421 U.S. at 785, 95 S.Ct. 2004.
In an attempt to show the requisite impact on interstate commerce, plaintiffs herein allege that they cannot attend out of state seminars conducted by various specialty and technical groups unless they pay the ADA dues. This alleged ineligibility to attend seminars does not amount to sufficient impact on interstate commerce. Significantly, plaintiffs do not even assert a claim for the amounts they have paid in membership dues to the ADA because the cost of membership is passed on to the public, thereby occasioning no loss to the plaintiffs. I agree with the district court’s conclusion that the complaint does not adequately allege a restraint of trade substantially affecting interstate commerce.
I would affirm.

. United States v. Nat’l Soc’y of Professional Eng’rs., 389 F.Supp. 1193 (D.D.C.1974) (National Society rules prohibited members from engaging in competitive bidding for engineering services); United States v. Oregon State Bar, 385 F.Supp. 507 (D.Ore.1974) (minimum fee schedule); United States v. Nat’l Ass’n of Real Estate Bds., 339 U.S. 485, 70 S.Ct. 711, 94 L.Ed. 1007 (1950) (fixing of real estate commissions); N. California Pharmaceutical Ass’n v. United States, 306 F.2d 379 (9th Cir. 1962) (fixing prices of pre-compounded prescription drugs).

. Hospital Building Co. v. Trustees of Rex Hospital, 425 U.S. 738, 96 S.Ct. 1848, 48 L.Ed.2d 338 (1976) is also readily distinguishable from the instant case. The complaint in i?ex Hospital alleged that defendants conspired to block the proposed expansion of plaintiff’s hospital facility, and that plaintiff’s facility purchased 80% of its supplies from out of state and derived a large share of its insurance revenue and finances from out of state. The alleged conduct of defendants thus adversely affected the very substantial volume of interstate commerce in which the plaintiff’s hospital engaged.