In In re New Motor Vehicles Canadian Export Litigation (2:03-md-01532-DBH), Plaintiffs allege that Defendants violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act by entering into a series of agreements designed to prevent new motor vehicles purchased in Canada from entering the United States. Plaintiffs believe that motor vehicles prices in Canada were 10-30% lower than prices for the same motor vehicles in the United States during the class period. The purpose and effect of this course of conduct was to foreclose a new motor vehicle discount channel from operating in the United States and Canada. Without the price competition that this discount channel of distribution would have provided, consumers paid artificially inflated prices for new motor vehicles purchased in the United States.

On February 24, 2006, Toyota Motor Sales USA agreed to pay $35 million to settle Plaintiffs' claims. Toyota also agreed to refrain from engaging in anticompetitive conduct with other auto makers and trade associations. The Toyota settlement has not yet been approved by the Court.

On June 15, 2007, the District Court certified a nationwide class for injunctive relief and a 20 state class for damages. This decision was recently reversed by the United States Court for the First Circuit Court of Appeals and Plaintiffs' Petition for Rehearing En Banc was denied.

Labaton Sucharow serves on the Executive Committee appointed by the Court.