(July 7, 2009, Weil Gotshal News)
As part of litigation comprising one of the largest active antitrust actions in the US courts with alleged damages of approximately $3 billion, Weil Gotshal secured an important victory for client Chrysler Canada. Over 100 state and federal class action lawsuits were filed against the major automakers from 2003 to 2007 alleging that the manufacturers had illegally conspired to prevent new vehicles sold in Canada from entering the United States for resale.
In the district court litigation, the automaker defendants had argued that the plaintiffs' expert had merely posited a theory of common impact – he had not established that he would be able to establish a methodology to apply that theory to the record that had been developed. The district court certified several classes, holding that the court would consider the issues raised by defendant at the summary judgment phase. On appeal, however, the First Circuit Court of Appeals characterized plaintiffs' theory of common impact as "novel and complex" and ruled that plaintiffs had the burden of establishing the application of their theory to the facts of the case before any class could be certified. Class certification was reversed and the matter remanded to the district court.
In re New Motor Vehicles Canadian Export litigation, 522 F.3d 6 (2008). The ruling was an important step in the emerging consensus regarding the legal standard for class certification, and it comprised one of many related favorable decisions for our clients. The First Circuit also found that the plaintiffs did not have standing to seek injunctive relief individually or as representatives of a class and vacated the injunctive class certified by the district court.
On July 2, 2009, the district court, citing to the analysis contained in First Circuit's ruling on class certification, granted defendants' motion for full summary judgment. The district court ruled that plaintiffs had failed to put forward sufficient evidence that they had been injured by the alleged conspiracy.