In the light of a current news story, it’s a good moment to remind everyone of a piece of standard advice given by antitrust lawyers to clients.
You may be present at an entirely legitimate event with your competitors (eg a meeting to discuss proposed regulatory developments in your industry). But then you realise people have started talking about how much prices should be raised.
It’s clear from a large number of past decisions that if you just hang around and say nothing, it will be concluded that you took part in these unlawful discussions.
So the advice is to announce in a loud voice that you disapprove, and that you want no part in this unlawful activity, and leave. You might choose to knock something over as you go, so everyone remembers that you left.
You might also want to record in writing at the time precisely when you left and that you wanted no part of the unlawful activity.
This is pretty standard competition law advice. But it might carry over to other contexts where you realise that the event you are participating in has taken a turn of which you want no part.
