In re: Publ’n Paper Antitrust Litig.

In an antitrust class action alleging a conspiracy to fix prices in violation of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. 1, the district court entered summary judgment in favor of defendants, manufacturers and sellers of “publication paper,” a type of paper used in preparing printed material of various types. Plaintiffs, direct purchasers of defendants’ paper products, claimed that defendants’ price hikes mirrored each other in amount and occurred in close succession and were instituted pursuant to an agreement, rather than independently. Plaintiffs also claimed that, in the same time frame, two defendants coordinated the closure of paper mills in order to reduce the supply of publication paper. The Second Circuit vacated in part. A jury could reasonably find that defendants entered into an agreement to raise the price of publication paper, and that, as implemented, this agreement damaged plaintiffs. View "In re: Publ'n Paper Antitrust Litig." on Justia Law