New Ninth Circuit Opinion in the Hawaii - Guam Cabotage Case

The Filed Rate Doctrine.

Roughly speaking, the Filed Rate Doctrine is a bar to any antitrust lawsuit challenging rates for services that have been approved by a federal agency.  In the case of maritime cargo trade, carriers must submit their rates to the Surface Transportation Board.

I have posted earlier (here and here)  on the cabotage antitrust case pending in Seattle relating to the rates charged for shipping by Horizon and Matson.  The District Court dismissed the complaint alleging antitrust violations on the basis of the filed rate doctrine.  Last week, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal.  The unpublished, summary opinion can be found here.