Today, United States District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Manhattan issued LIBOR VII, in which the court granted class certification under Rule 23(b)(3) to a class of plaintiffs who bought over-the-counter instruments that paid interest in terms of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and who allege that LIBOR-setting banks conspired to suppress LIBOR

IMG_0295A question of numbers

Class actions can save courts and parties a lot of time and money. But what if the class includes just a few members? How much time and money will the class action device save then?

The Third Circuit grappled with that “numerosity” question in In re Modafinil Antitrust Litig., 837 F.3d 238 (3d Cir. 2016).

The answer it gave — that a class with 20+/- mostly big members may not pass the test — could reshape how courts handle antitrust cases worth billions of dollars.Continue Reading No Class?

Global BusinessDear Blawgletterati:

A rebuke

Drop dead, the Seventh Circuit on November 26 told U.S. firms that want to collect treble damages under the Sherman Act for fixing prices on their foreign subs' purchases overseas.

Either have your subs buy the stuff in the U.S., the panel ruled, or purchase the goods for import into the

Shutterstock_122546788Apple settles

Apple has settled up to $841 million of antitrust claims by state attorneys-general and a nationwide class of consumers who bought e-books from Apple and its publisher co-conspirators.

The pact comes almost a year after U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in New York held Apple civilly liable for conspiracy to fix prices, a

A Chance to Shine

Ninth Circuit San FranciscoHow often do fourth-year associates get an opportunity to argue before a U.S. court of appeals?

That sort of thing occurs a lot at the place where Blawgletter has worked since 1985.

It happened most recently to Amanda Bonn, an associate in Susman Godfrey's Los Angeles office. Let us tell you the story.

E-bookDid Apple collude with publishers to jack up the price of e-books?

You betcha, U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote ruled in Manhattan today after a three-week trial.

NYT story here, WSJ there.

A damages trial will follow.

Apple pursued a nutty defense, which held that it and the publishers did no wrong