Many hedge funds pursue strategies that involve trading in the debt of distressed companies.  Those funds occasionally work together to renegotiate payments on such debt with the issuer, often in the context of the issuer’s bankruptcy.  In 2011, an issuer struck back at the hedge funds that were accumulating its debt, claiming that they had conspired to increase the price of its debt in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.  This article summarizes the factual background of the litigation over the issuer’s notes and the legal analysis of federal courts at various levels.  For discussion of an attack on collective action by holders of distressed debt that did not involve antitrust claims, see “Motors Liquidation Company Suit against Hedge Funds Holding Distressed Debt of General Motors Nova Scotia Finance Company Goes to Trial,” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 5, No. 33 (Aug. 23, 2012).