After nearly 20 years of litigation and just three weeks prior to the start of trial, Berman Tabacco, as lead counsel in an antitrust case against several leading automakers, successfully negotiated an $82 million settlement with the last remaining automaker defendant, Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited (“Ford Canada”). The longstanding class action, pending before Judge Anne-Christine Massullo in San Francisco Superior Court and captioned In re Automobile Antitrust Cases I and II, JCCP Nos. 4298, 4303, was originally filed in early 2003 on behalf of new car buyers in California. The case alleged that several of the world’s largest automakers—including Ford, GM, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan—conspired to keep discounted new cars and trucks from Canada from entering the U.S. market, which allegedly kept car prices higher for consumers in California and across the United States.
The California action was one of several actions brought that involved similar allegations—including multiple state court actions and a large federal multidistrict litigation. Berman Tabacco, representing plaintiff car buyers, served as lead counsel in the federal multidistrict litigation and as lead trial counsel in the California action.
The recent settlement with Ford Canada came about after over a decade of hard-fought litigation in the California state trial court and appellate practice in the California Court of Appeal. Twice during this period, the trial court granted judgment in favor of Ford Canada; and each time, Berman Tabacco succeeded in convincing the California Court of Appeal to reverse and reinstate the claims. In particular, in 2016, the California Court of Appeal found that plaintiffs had produced sufficient evidence of an unlawful antitrust conspiracy to have their claims against Ford Canada be presented to a jury. See In re Automobile Antitrust Cases I and II, 1 Cal. App. 5th 127 (2016).
Ultimately, after intensive preparation for a jury trial, the parties settled on the proverbial eve of trial. The settlement, which is now final, provides $82 million in cash for the benefit of California consumers who purchased new cars in California from January 1, 2001 to April 30, 2003. With prior settlements that plaintiffs achieved in various related cases, this settlement with Ford Canada brings the total recovery for car buyers to nearly $138 million.
San Francisco partner Joe Tabacco, who first launched the investigation into the alleged conspiracy back in 2002, remarked: “This truly marathon case would not have concluded successfully without the sustained efforts of many fine lawyers—including partners Todd Seaver and Matt Pearson—who toiled for years to get the case across the finish line. The perseverance paid off, and the settlement represents an excellent result for car buyers in the class.”