510
Stevens, J., dissenting
Assn., 37 N. J. 507, 516, 181 A. 2d 774, 780 (1962) ("[S]o much of defendants' motion as sought a dismissal of the complaint as being insufficient in law must fail," but sustaining defendants' unrelated privilege defense); Halberstam v. Welch, 705 F. 2d 472, 489 (CADC 1983). The cases cited, in short, simply do not do the work the Court would have them do.4
Furthermore, at least some of the cases cited by the Court speak generally of harm via any overt act, and not exclusively of tortious acts.5 Indeed, some of the sources cited
4 The Court suggests that three of the cases cited deny recovery because there was no actionable tort—and not, as I have suggested, because there was no illegal agreement or because there was no injury. See ante, at 504-505, n. 8. At best, the Court's reading only demonstrates that in these cases the question whether the harmful overt act was a tort, on the one hand, and the question whether there was any illegal agreement or harm, on the other hand, are questions of overlapping substance. To the extent that is true, however, the point does not support the Court's view. Rather, it only proves that the cases cited do not parse out elements (a), (b), and (c) as the Court suggests they do. Moreover, as I stated at the outset, both the Court and I assume that there has been an illegal conspiracy in this case. If the cases the Court cites show that there was no illegal agreement at all because there was no actionable tort, then the cases cited by the Court simply contradict the central premise of the present case, and are therefore inapposite.
5 See Earp v. Detroit, 16 Mich. App. 271, 275, 167 N. W. 2d 841, 845 (1969) ("There is no civil action for conspiracy alone. . . . It must be coupled with the commission of acts which damaged the plaintiff"); Lesperance v. North American Aviation, Inc., 217 Cal. App. 2d 336, 345, 31 Cal. Rptr. 873, 878 (1963) (" 'It is the wrong done and the damage suffered pursuant to . . . the conspiracy itself . . . . [T]he complaint must state facts which show that a civil wrong was done' "); Chapman v. Pollock, 148 F. Supp. 769, 772 (WD Mo. 1957) ("There can be no recovery for the simple existence of a civil conspiracy. The action is for damages caused by acts committed pursuant to a formed conspiracy. . . . Unless something is actually done by the conspirators pursuant to their combination . . . no civil action lies against anyone"); Adler v. Fenton, 24 How. 407, 410 (1861) ("[I]t must be shown that the defendants have done some wrong"); Royster v. Baker, 365 S. W. 2d 496, 499 (Mo. 1963) ("The gist of the action is not the conspiracy, but the wrong done by acts in furtherance of the conspiracy"); Halber-
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