A Global Price-Fixing Scheme with 50 Defendants Spanning Six Continents. Almost Half A Billion Dollars Recovered...And We're Just Getting Started.
In re Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation
While Labaton Sucharow is regularly appointed by the courts to prosecute high profile antitrust class actions, some cases stand out for their breadth of wrongdoing, the scope of the litigation and the impact of the plaintiffs' success. In 2010, the milestones reached in the Air Cargo matter put the case and the Firm in a class of their own.
In 2006, U.S. and European antitrust authorities raided numerous major airlines, uncovering a global price-fixing scheme through which the airlines are alleged to have unlawfully inflated cargo shipping fees over a period of more than five years. With more than 50 defendants acting across six continents, the scope of the anticompetitive conduct was vast. In fact, to date, some 15 airlines have pled guilty to U.S. criminal charges and others have been accepted into government leniency programs. In addition, parallel criminal proceedings are ongoing in at least eight other jurisdictions across the globe.
Taking on tough adversaries in a case the presiding judge referred to as "irrefutably complex," Labaton Sucharow to date has recovered more than $490 million in total partial settlements for the class, making Air Cargo one of the year's largest recoveries in an antitrust class action. And the fight goes on. Labaton Sucharow will advocate for the class until each and every airline that engaged in the egregious misconduct is brought to justice.