Hausfeld continues to lead the US antitrust rankings as a top claimant firm with settlements totaling $5.24 billion over 12 years
Hausfeld is proud to have once again been recognized as one of the leading claimant law firms in the US for class recovery in antitrust litigation, according to the new 2020 Antitrust Annual Report from the University of San Francisco Law School and The Huntington National Bank which provides a detailed analysis of the US antitrust litigation market over the past 12 years.
Among the 25 claimant law firms analyzed in the report, Hausfeld is ranked first among lead counsel in the number of complaints filed in US federal courts, with 292 filings between 2009 and 2020, and first among lead counsel in amounts recovered, with 113 settlements between 2009 and 2020 totaling over $5.24 billion.
Hausfeld served as co-lead counsel in two of the top three cases with settlements reaching final approval between 2009 and 2020. These cases include: In re Foreign Exchange Benchmark Antitrust Litigation, in which $2.3 billion was recovered for the direct purchaser class, and In re Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation, in which $1.2 billion was recovered for the direct purchaser class.
Bonny Sweeney, Co-Chair of the firm’s US Antitrust Practice commented, “These rankings are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our incredible team of attorneys and staff across our five US offices. Over the last 12 years, Hausfeld has won landmark trials, negotiated complex settlements among dozens of defendants and recovered billions of dollars for clients both in and out of court. Most recently, the firm achieved a $2.67 billion settlement agreement on behalf of a proposed class of tens of millions of Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance subscribers, one of the largest health insurance class actions in the US to date. I am proud to see the firm recognized for its precedent-setting achievements on behalf of our clients.”
The 2020 Antitrust Annual Report provides an overview of antitrust class actions litigated in US federal court from 2009 through 2020. It addresses various topics, including the number of antitrust class action complaints filed each year, the amount of time on average to reach a settlement, the mean and median recoveries, attorneys' fees and costs awarded, the total settlement amounts in each year and overall, the law firms that represented plaintiffs and defendants in antitrust class action settlements, and the cumulative totals for claims administrators involved in the settlement process. The report also distinguishes private antitrust enforcement by particular industries, by type of claim—conspiracy claims (under Section 1 of the Sherman Act) as opposed to claims based on unilateral conduct (Section 2 of the Sherman Act)—and by type of plaintiff—whether claims were brought on behalf of direct or indirect purchasers.
The full report is available here.