Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST—N.D. Cal.: Best Buy awarded over $2M in attorney fees, costs in TFT-LCD price fixing case, (Jun 8, 2016)
Law Firms Mentioned:K&L Gates | Latham & Watkins | Munger, Tolles and Olson LLP | Paul Hastings LLP | Robins Kaplan LLP
Organizations Mentioned:Best Buy | Best Buy Co., Inc. | Best Buy Enterprise Services, Inc. | Best Buy Purchasing LLC | Best Buy Stores, L.P. | Hannstar Display Corp. | LG Display Co., Ltd. | Latham & Watkins, LLP | Munger, Tolles & Olson, LLP | Paul Hastings, LLP | Robins Kaplan, LLP
By John W. Arden, J.D., LL.M.
The federal district court in San Francisco has awarded Best Buy attorney fees and costs of $2,037,011 in an action in which Taiwanese manufacturer HannStar Display Corporation was found liable for participating in a conspiracy to fix the prices of TFT-LCD panels (In re TFT-LCD (Flat Panel) Antitrust Litigation, June 6, 2016, Illston, S.).
Following a September 3, 2013 jury verdict in Best Buy’s action against manufacturers of TFT-LCD panels for conspiring to fix prices, the federal district court entered a judgment in the amount of $7,471,943, before trebling and offset, against HannStar.
On May 12, 2014, the court adopted a Special Master’s recommendations, awarding Best Buy $1.75 million of a requested $8.6 million in attorney fees plus $104,167 in costs, while denying a request to recover expert fees and other nontaxable costs.
On January 7, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco affirmed the lower court’s denial of the defendant’s post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law. In addition, it affirmed the award of attorney fees and costs. Subsequently, the appeals court granted Best Buy’s unopposed motion for attorney fees on appeal of an additional $182,843.
The case is No. 3:10-cv-04572-SI.
Attorneys: David Martinez (Robins Kaplan LLP) for Best Buy Co., Inc., Best Buy Purchasing LLC, Best Buy Enterprise Services, Inc. and Best Buy Stores, L.P. Belinda S. Lee (Latham & Watkins) and Hugh Frederick Bangasser (K&L Gates) for Hannstar Display Corp. Christopher Marisak Lynch (Munger, Tolles and Olson LLP) and Holly A. House (Paul Hastings LLP) for LG Display Co., Ltd.
Companies: Best Buy Co., Inc.; Best Buy Purchasing LLC; Best Buy Enterprise Services, Inc.; Best Buy Stores, L.P.; Hannstar Display Corp.; LG Display Co., Ltd.
Cases: Antitrust CaliforniaNews