As reported in Law360, Paul, Weiss client Sumitomo
Corporation of America announced that a price-fixing lawsuit
brought against the company in United States federal court was
dismissed with prejudice by plaintiffs shortly after discovery in
the case began. No payments or other consideration of any kind were
exchanged among the parties.
The lawsuit concerned allegations that Sumitomo conspired with
two other companies to fix the price of magnesium oxide, which
Sumitomo said were without merit. The core of the complaint was the
allegation that a representative from Sumitomo admitted to the
price-fixing conspiracy at a single meeting held years before the
complaint was filed. Plaintiffs told Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise
of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey that they
learned about the alleged conspiracy from a "whistleblower" who
attended the meeting described in the complaint. The court held
that the complaint met the basic pleading requirements in the
federal rules of civil procedure.
After answering the complaint, Paul, Weiss immediately deposed
the alleged whistleblower, who denied key parts of the complaint
and contradicted other parts. Shortly after the deposition, the
named plaintiffs agreed to stay discovery, and then to dismiss the
case with prejudice. Paul, Weiss had previously won a complete
dismissal with prejudice of a complaint filed by a group of
indirect purchasers alleging similar facts.
The Paul, Weiss team consisted of litigation partner Aidan Synnott,
counsel Daniel
Crane and associate David Kessler.
» Read Law360's article about the
dismissal