Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 542.18 (2025)

Restraint of trade or commerce.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session
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542.18 Restraint of trade or commerce.Every contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce in this state is unlawful.
History.s. 1, ch. 80-28.

Arrestable Offenses under F.S. 542.18

M = misdemeanor · F = felony · degree: F=1st S=2nd T=3rd
§542.18ANTITRUSTCONTRACT IN RESTRAINT TRADE COMMERCEF · 3rd
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 58 cases (10 in the last 5 years), 1982–2026 · leading case: & SC16-400 Elizabeth White v. Mederi Caretenders Visiting Servs. of Se. Florida, LLC., & Americare Home Therapy, Inc., etc. v. Carla Hiles, 226 So. 3d 774 (Fla. 2017).
& SC16-400 Elizabeth White v. Mederi Caretenders Visiting Servs. of Se. Florida, LLC., & Americare Home Therapy, Inc., etc. v. Carla Hiles, 226 So. 3d 774 (Fla. 2017). · cites it 2× “See § 542.18, Fla. Stat. (2016) (“Every contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce in this state is unlawful,”).”
St. Petersburg Yacht Charters v. Morgan Yacht, 457 So. 2d 1028 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). · cites it 5× “The violations are alleged to involve section 542.18, Florida Statutes (1981) (the counterpart of section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.”
JES Props., Inc. v. USA Equestrian, Inc., 432 F. Supp. 2d 1283 (M.D. Fla. 2006). · cites it 4× “Counts V-VIII raised claims of violations of the Florida Antitrust Act, Fla. Stat. §§ 542.18 and 542.19. Count IX- alleged violations of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.”
Colucci v. Kar Kare Auto. Grp., Inc., 918 So. 2d 431 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). · cites it 2× “[2] See § 542.18, Fla. Stat. (2005) ("Every contract, combination, or conspiracy in restrain of trade or commerce in this state is unlawful.”
Jet 1 Ctr., Inc. v. City of Naples Airport Auth. (In Re Jet 1 Ctr., Inc.), 322 B.R. 182 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 2005). · cites it 7× “§ 2 ), V (Florida Antitrust Act, Fla. Stat. § 542.18 ) and VI (Florida Antitrust Act, Fla.”
In re Wellbutrin XL Antitrust Litig., 260 F.R.D. 143 (E.D. Pa. 2009). “The Florida Antitrust Act reads, in relevant parts: “[e]very contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce in this state is unlawful;” and “[i]t is unlawful for any person to monopolize, attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person…”
Hill Dermaceuticals, Inc. v. Anthem, Inc., 228 F. Supp. 3d 1292 (M.D. Fla. 2017). · cites it 2× “§ 1 , and the Florida Antitrust Act, Fla. Stat. § 542.18 . Anthem and Blue Cross move to dismiss these counts for failing to state claims for relief; Defendants contend that Hill does not allege a prohibited agreement.”
Miller v. Preefer, 1 So. 3d 1278 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009). · cites it 2× “” Section 542.18, Florida Statutes (1993), generally prohibits any contract in restraint of trade or commerce.”
Greenberg v. Mount Sinai Med. Ctr., 629 So. 2d 252 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993). · cites it 2× “Section 542.18 provides that "[e]very contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce in this state is unlawful.”
Henao v. Prof'l Shoe Repair, Inc., 929 So. 2d 723 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006). · cites it 2× “Indeed, section 542.18, Florida Statutes (1983), stated (and continues to state) the general rule in Florida that contracts in restraint of trade are unlawful.”
In Re Chicken Antitrust Litig. Am. Poultry, 669 F.2d 228 (5th Cir. 1982). “Fla.Stat. §§ 542.18-542.23 (1980) (state may sue parens patriae for violations of state antitrust laws).”
Oce Printing Sys. USA, Inc. v. MAILERS DATA SERV. INC., 760 So. 2d 1037 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). · cites it 2× “Section 542.18, Florida Statutes (1997), states: "Every contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce in this state is unlawful.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.

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