Steven F. Benz

May 21,  2024— Chinese state-owned enterprise Irico Group Corporation and its subsidiary Irico Display Devices Co. face a potential default judgment for more than $2.4 billion in a long-running price-fixing lawsuit brought by classes of American purchasers of cathode ray tubes.  Special Master Vaughn R. Walker, appointed by U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar, recommended the default judgment as a sanction for discovery misconduct. The Special Master’s report and recommendation found that Irico’s misconduct over the course of the litigation showed “contempt for th[e] court,” “defied the basic responsibilities of a civil litigant in the United States,” and reflected a “malign strategy” under which “evidence . . . grew stale” and “Irico’s own witnesses . . . disappeared.”  The report included a litany of specific examples including failures to preserve and spoliation of both electronic and physical evidence, false representations to the court, an appeal that delayed the litigation for a year, and failures to produce key witnesses.  It concluded that no sanction less than a default judgment would suffice as a remedy. Judge Tigar will now consider whether to adopt the Special Master’s report and recommendation.  If that occurs, Irico will be required to pay plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees, and the court will determine the total damages due. The direct purchaser class of plaintiffs is represented by R. Alexander Saveri, Geoffrey C. Rushing, Matthew D. Heaphy and David Y. Hwu of Saveri & Saveri Inc.; Steven F. Benz, Gregory G. Rapawy, and Robert C. Klipper of Kellogg Hansen Todd Figel & Frederick PLLC.  The indirect purchaser class of plaintiffs is represented by Mario N. Alioto and Lauren C. Capurro of Trump Alioto Trump & Prescott LLP; and Joseph W. Cotchett, Adam J. Zapala, James Gerard Beebe Dallal, and Imtiaz A. Siddiqui of Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy LLP. The case is In re Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 1917, No. 4:07-cv-05944, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. ..

April 30, 2024—  This month, Kellogg Hansen partner Steve Benz presented at the American Bar Association’s 72nd Antitrust Spring Meeting in Washington, DC.Along with Ian Simmons, partner & co-chair of the Antitrust Practice Group at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Tara L. Reinhart, partner at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, Sharon K. Robertson, partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, and Kalpana Srinivasan, managing partner at Susman Godfrey LLP, the group’s gave a discussion titled, “Trying a Section 2 Case: Best Practices.”Understanding exclusionary conduct, a critical element in monopolization claims, poses conceptual challenges as the law adapts to technological advances and changes in the marketplace. A raft of enforcement, competitor, and consumer actions are pending against Amazon; Apple; Google; and Meta. These platforms are alleged to have monopolized complementary markets, often by tying the platforms to the use of their own products and services. Over the next decade, courts will continue to develop Section 2 digital platform jurisprudence. The discussion encompassed both the conceptual underpinnings of monopolization doctrine and practical strategies for developing and trying monopolization cases, highlighting the dynamic and complex nature of Sherman Act Section 2 litigation.   ..

October 14, 2017 — The American Antitrust Institute (AAI) named Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, P.L.L.C. a 2017 Antitrust Enforcement Awards honoree for \"Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice.\"  Kellogg Hansen was chosen for successfully representing six corporate class representative clients in The Dial Corporation, et al. v. News Corporation, et al., Civ. Action No. 13-CV-06802 (WHP) (S.D.N.Y). Steven Benz, Kellogg Hansen partner and co-lead counsel, will accept the award on behalf of the firm.  In this Sherman Act monopolization case involving in-store promotions, Kellogg Hansen represented the Dial Corporation, Henkel Consumer Goods, Inc., Kraft Heinz Foods Company, H.J. Heinz Company, L.P., Foster Poultry Farms, Smithfield Foods, Inc., HP Hood, LLC, and BEF Foods, Inc.  On the first day of trial, Mr. Benz secured a settlement of $250 million and significant injunctive relief for both his clients and the certified class of 699 consumer product goods (CPG) companies. Kellogg Hansen will be honored along with co-counsel, Susman Godfrey L.L.P., McKool Smith PC, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, and Berry Law PLLC.  The honorees will be recognized at the AAI gala dinner on Tuesday, November 7, 2017, following the AAI’s Annual Private Antitrust Enforcement Conference. ..