The Firm recently secured a complete victory in Federal District Court for the Southern District of California in hard-fought, consolidated antitrust cases against the leading national plaintiffs’ class action firms.  Proposed classes of direct and indirect gasoline purchasers sued the Firm’s client—a national leader in refining petroleum products—alleging that it conspired with other refiners to fix gasoline and diesel fuel prices.  Plaintiffs sought $24.7 billion in overcharge damages, which would automatically be trebled under the Clayton and Cartwright Acts.

Upon considering hundreds of pages of briefing, testimony and documentary evidence, and argument by counsel, the Honorable Jinsook Ohta issued a reasoned 103-page order granting summary judgment in defendants’ favor.  The district court also excluded significant parts of plaintiffs’ experts’ opinion testimony.

The order was so thoroughly correct that plaintiffs decided to not pursue an appeal and walked away from the cases.  The cases are Persian Gulf v. BP West Coast Products LLC, et al. (Case No. 3:15-cv-01749) and Bartlett, et al. v. BP West Coast Products LLC, et al. (Case No. 3:18-cv-01374, consolidated with Case No. 3:18-cv-01377).  To review the district court’s summary judgment order, click here.  Please contact Jerry Hawxhurst or Kyle Foltyn-Smith if you would like to learn more about these cases or the Firm’s antitrust and energy practices.