On March 12, 2018, the United States Department of Justice issued a Statement of Interest in the case of TIKD Services LLC, v. The Florida Bar, et al., arguing that The Florida Bar is neither immune nor exempt from antitrust liability under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
The Sherman Antitrust Act is an anti-monopoly and anti-trust statute that was passed by congress in 1890. Section 1 of the federal statue prohibits every contract, combination, or conspiracy which restraints trade.
TIKD, which launched in February, 2017, is an app that allows individuals to manage traffic citations by simply uploading a photo of the citation and paying a one-time fixed fee. TIKD then automatically retains an attorney to fight the ticket.
When the Florida Bar issued a staff opinion expressing that lawyers who worked with TIKD could be in violation of the Florida Bar rules of professional conduct, TIKD Services, LLC filed a federal lawsuit against the Florida Bar and the Ticket Clinic law firm. The lawsuit alleges that the Ticket Clinic law firm made efforts to put TIKD out of business by threatening attorneys who represented TIKD customers with ethical complaints to the Florida Bar.
In a February 21, 2018, motion for sanctions, The Ticket Clinic claimed that the Florida Bar is Immune to antitrust liability. The March 12, 2018 response by the Department of Justice asserts that per the decision in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade Commission, the defendants and the Florida Bar, are not immune from federal antitrust law under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Read the Department of Justice’s statement of interest here.
