In re Urethanes Antitrust Litigation
STATUS — Closed
PRACTICE — Antitrust
CASE — MDL No. 1616, U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas
FKB represented the plaintiff direct purchaser class in this price-fixing case against urethane chemical manufacturers.
After securing settlements with all but one of the alleged cartel members, plaintiffs proceeded to trial against the Dow Chemical Company, the lone remaining defendant. Following a four-week trial, the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs that, after trebling, resulted in a judgment of $1.06 billion—one of the largest price-fixing jury verdicts ever. In a unanimous opinion, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed the judgment.
The case against Dow settled while pending on appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. Ultimately, FKB and its co-counsel obtained nearly $1 billion in settlements on behalf of the class.
