(Photo
by
Edward
Berthelot/Getty
Images)
Ed.
note:
Welcome
to
our
daily
feature,
Quote
of
the
Day.
Hermes
can
run
its
business
any
way
it
wants.
If
it
chooses
to
make
five
Birkin
bags
a
year
and
charge
a
million
to
them,
it
can
do
that.
The
fact
that
a
lot
of
your
clients
may
not
be
able
to
get
a
Birkin
bag
is
not
a
Hermes
antitrust
problem.
If
Hermes
is
going
to
make
you
pay
a
fortune
for
their
bag,
they
are
leaving
the
ground
open
for
every
competitor
to
say,
‘Come
on
in
and
get
our
beautiful
bag
and
you
don’t
have
to
buy
$3,000
or
$30,000
worth
of
belts.’
—
Judge
James
Donato
of
the
Northern
District
of
California,
in
comments
given
last
month
concerning
consumers’
antitrust
claims
lodged
against
luxury
fashion
house
Hermes.
Donato,
a
veteran
of
three
Biglaw
firms
where
he
practiced
antitrust
law,
is
skeptical
about
those
claims.
In
their
lawsuit,
plaintiffs
allege
that
Hermes
will
only
give
those
with
“sufficient
purchase
history”
the
chance
to
buy
a
Birkin
bag,
claiming
that
this
purchase
tying
scenario
is
a
violation
of
antitrust
law.
The
consumer
plaintiffs
recently
revised
their
complaint
for
the
third
time
by
adding
false
advertising
and
fraud
claims
in
an
attempt
to
keep
the
suit
alive.
Staci
Zaretsky is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
She’d
love
to
hear
from
you,
so
please
feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
comments,
or
critiques.
You
can
follow
her
on
X/Twitter
and
Threads
or
connect
with
her
on
LinkedIn.