Bar patrons who have visited downtown bars participating in the

weekend drink-special ban may be entitled to receive part of the

millions of dollars a team of Minneapolis lawyers expects to

recover from a lawsuit to be filed Wednesday.

The team of lawyers plans to file a class-action lawsuit in

federal court against the University of Wisconsin regarding the

Policy, Alternatives, Community and Education Project’s

recommendation of a voluntary weekend drink-special ban. The

lawsuit also targets the estimated 24 bars participating in the ban

since it began in September 2002.

The lawsuit, according to one of the lawyers pursuing the case,

could generate “tens of millions of dollars” in damages, which

would be awarded to students who visited bars since the time the

weekend drink specials began.

According to UW law professor and antitrust expert Peter

Carstensen, the case is valid. He said if a group of Madison bars

agreed to raise prices, they are lucky they are only getting sued

civilly.

“People go to jail for doing that,” Carstensen said. “It is

illegal for competitors to agree on what they are going to do, no

matter how benign their alleged motives are.”

If each bar that participated in the voluntary weekend

drink-special ban agreed to raise its prices and not have drink

specials during certain time periods, which forces students to pay

more for their drinks, the university and the bar owners could be

in trouble, according to Carstensen.

The case, which is being filed by attorney Jim Lockhart and

other attorneys from the firm Lommen, Nelson, Cole and Stageberg in

Minneapolis, alleges the university and bars participating in the

weekend drink-special ban are engaged in a price-fixing conspiracy.

The purpose of the lawsuit is to break up the bar cartel and return

downtown bars to competitive pricing, Lockhart said. The suit will

also attempt to uncover the nature of the cartel and recover money

lost by patrons.

Lockhart and his team have collected class representatives for

the case. These class representatives include a group of four

individuals who have visited the targeted establishments since

September 2002. The representatives are UW juniors Brian Dougherty

and Greg Gautam, UW law student Nick Eichenseer and Madison

resident Eric Stener. They will provide receipts from bar visits

and will meet with lawyers to discuss the downtown bars and

pricing.

Dougherty’s father, who works with Lockhart, contacted Dougherty

about participating in the case. Dougherty said he has become

involved in the case because what the bars are doing is

illegal.

“The university should not be pressuring private businesses,”

Gautam said. “They are making a profit because the ban has not

deterred people from going to the bars.”

Dougherty and Gautam were unsure if they would receive money for

their efforts. Dougherty explained it would depend on the outcome

of the case. However, Gautam said money was not the issue.

“I am not doing this because of money,” Gautam said. “I am doing

this because what is going on is not fair.”

In order to find out if downtown bars and the university did

conspire to raise prices, the prosecuting attorneys will search for

records and communications, such as e-mails, for evidence.

The lawyers will most likely also infer as to whether or not

establishments raised prices at the same time or if they eliminated

drink specials at a particular time, according to Carstensen.

“A big challenge is getting the proof together,” Carstensen

said, although he maintained it can, and most likely will, be

done.

Carstensen said some statements used in PACE material may prove

the organization told bars if they agreed to raise prices the bars

would make more money, which could potentially harm the

university’s defense.

If the case is won, students who visited bars implementing

weekend drink-special bans would receive money lost by the price

fixing. Carstensen said this amount would be calculated by the

extra amount bar patrons paid without the discount they received

before the ban and multiplied by the number of drinks each bar has

sold since that time. This figure would then be multiplied by

three, as is standard practice in antitrust cases. Since bars keep

precise records, damages should be able to be accurately

calculated, Carstensen said.

“If it is correct that they agreed on eliminating drink

specials, they have no defense that I can identify that is a valid

and workable defense,” Carstensen said.

Sue Crowley, PACE director, said she had no comment on the

issue.

Erik Christianson, UW System spokesperson, said the university

and the system do not comment on pending lawsuits or cases.