In December 1971, the Justice Department made a decision that forever influenced the way architects in the United States approach business. The government chose to pursue a case against the AIA for what it believed to be violations of Section l of the Act of Congress of July 2,1890, commonly known as the Sherman Antitrust Act. The law, which had been established to prohibit monopolies and to maintain fair competition in our free-market society, prompted the Justice Department to investigate the AIA and other professional societies and trade associations that had crafted fee structures for members. The antitrust lawyers claimed that the AIA's fee schedules were tantamount to price fixing.
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