Kirby McInerney has decades of experience representing investors in litigation relating to market manipulation and price fixing for both indirect and direct purchasers, in cases brought under the Sherman Act and state law analogs. We especially excel in redressing complex financial fraud involving highly specialized markets, such as financial derivatives, where we continue to break new ground in terms of the law and size of settlements.
Our firm has been involved in some of the most cutting-edge areas of market manipulation cases of the last three decades, including participating in the seminal case related to Sumitomo Corporation’s manipulation of the copper market, and, more recently, filing the first lawsuit related to the high-profile manipulation of the LIBOR benchmark rate.
In addition to our work involving financial products, our experience further spans the markets for gasoline, propane, cement, concrete, steel, potash, silver, and others. We have extensive experience prosecuting cases against corporations in these industries for violations of the full breadth of antitrust laws: illegal price fixing, unlawful monopolization, monopoly leveraging, illegal tying arrangements, illegal mergers or acquisitions, unfair competition, exclusive dealing, and refusals to deal. Our clients include public pension funds, hedge funds, market makers, and others.
KM filed the first LIBOR manipulation lawsuit on behalf of investors and currently serves as court-appointed co-lead counsel for the exchange-based class alleging the fixing of prices of a benchmark interest rate. The case resulted in settlements totaling $190.45 million, which combined represent the largest recovery in a “futures-only” commodities class action litigation.
We are acting as lead counsel on behalf of the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office and the New Mexico State Investment Council alleging that leading credit default swap (CDS) dealers took part in a more than decade-long, multibillion-dollar scheme to manipulate the benchmark prices used to value credit default swap contracts at settlement.
Representation of individual silver futures traders alleging manipulation of silver futures spreads. KM achieved a landmark appellate decision in this case establishing pleading standards for monopolization claims in futures markets. The case preceded a related Department of Justice criminal investigation into J.P. Morgan that resulted in an over-$920 million criminal penalty.
Acting as a court-appointed executive committee member and class counsel representing publishers alleging that Google monopolized and suppressed competition in online display advertising.
Co-lead counsel of a putative class of exchange-based investors alleging monopolization and manipulation of Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat futures contracts in violation of federal antitrust and commodity exchange laws.
Special fiduciary representation for the exchange-based class for a putative class of participants who traded futures and options in the FX market. The case has already resulted in partial settlements of more than $2.3 billion.
Ongoing representation of a proposed class of Division I college coaches whose wages were illegally fixed at $0 in Colon v. National Collegiate Athletic Association. Recently, the Federal Judge overseeing the case overruled the NCAA’s motion to dismiss the case. The litigation seeks to recover years of back wages on behalf of thousands of hard-working employees who were not paid due to a conspiracy among the NCAA and its member schools.
Ongoing representation of a class of purchasers alleging that defendants fixed the prices of suspension assemblies, a critical component of hard disk drives, raising the prices of computers throughout the U.S.
Class counsel in the benchmark rate antitrust litigation on behalf of a putative class of investors who traded derivative products linked to Euribor, including futures and options contracts on the NYSE LIFFE exchange. The case has already resulted in partial settlements of more than $300 million.
Co-lead counsel on behalf of classes of indirect purchasers in connection with antitrust proceedings against Microsoft. The litigations resulted in settlements totaling nearly a billion dollars for consumers in the states of New York, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Minnesota (where the litigation proceeded to trial). More recently, KM served as consulting and advisory counsel to Canadian lead counsel based on the firm’s co-lead roles in the U.S. Microsoft cases. The Canadian action resulted in a settlement of $395 million.
Acting as lead counsel and head of the discovery committee to a putative class of direct purchasers of brand name and generic equivalents of extended-release venlafaxine hydrochloride capsules against drug manufacturers. Among the claims, defendants are alleged to have delayed market entry of generic versions and entered reverse payment settlements.
Co-lead counsel in a case alleging the raising and fixing of prices in the market for ductile iron pipe fittings. The case resulted in a settlement of $4.1 million.
KM is one of the core firms in an indirect purchaser antitrust litigation. The case resulted in settlements on behalf of end payers totaling $576.75 million. Specifically, the Special Master in the CRT litigation noted that, “Kirby played an integral role in this case and assumed significant risk . . . Kirby’s work was at a very high level [and] Kirby’s work greatly benefited the Class.”
Serving as counsel for a certified class of commercial and institutional businesses in a case alleging that numerous poultry producers, such as Tyson and Perdue Farms, conspired to limit production and increase the price of broiler chickens. These big-name poultry producers' conduct additionally led to a criminal investigation and numerous indictments.
Representing class members in this case alleging that the defendants, StarKist, Bumble Bee, Chicken of the Sea, and their parent companies, conspired to fix the price of packaged tuna. This case impacts the everyday consumer due to the overwhelming control these three corporations have over the market for this food staple.
Co-lead counsel in an antitrust class action pertaining to Unocal’s alleged manipulation of the standard-setting process for low-emissions reformulated gasoline in California, which plaintiffs claim caused inflated retail prices. KM obtained a $48 million settlement for indirect purchasers.
Law360 has published an article discussing a major positive decision for plaintiffs in In re: Credit Default Swaps Auctions Litigation, 1:21-cv-00606 (D.N.M.), a class action alleging major banks took part in a more than decade-long, multibillion-dollar scheme to manipulate the benchmark prices used to value credit default swap contracts at settlement.
Kirby McInerney is proud to announce that partner Karen Lerner has been named to Law360’s Competition Editorial Advisory Board for 2023. The advisory board works together to provide feedback to Law360's editors on coverage, providing expert insight on how best to shape future content.
Co-Managing Partner David Kovel recently spoke at the 22nd annual Taxpayers Against Fraud (TAF) conference on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. TAF is a non-profit, public interest organization committed to supporting and encouraging whistleblowers who reveal fraud in government and financial markets.
The law firm of Kirby McInerney LLP is proud to announce that the Hon. Judge Paul A. Engelmayer of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has granted final approval of its $15.7 million settlement in In re JPMorgan Treasury Futures Spoofing Litig., No. 1:20-cv-03515 (S.D.N.Y.).
Kirby McInerney is proud to announce that partner Karen Lerner has been named to Law360’s Competition Editorial Advisory Board for 2022. The advisory board works together to provide feedback to Law360's editors on coverage, providing expert insight on how best to shape future content.
Kirby McInerney LLP has added Anthony F. Fata, a leading plaintiffs’ litigator in commodities, securities, and whistleblower matters, as a partner in the firm’s new Chicago office.
Major Wall Street banks have taken part in a more than decadelong, multibillion-dollar scheme to manipulate the benchmark prices used to value credit default swap contracts at settlement, New Mexico's State Investment Council has alleged in a new proposed antitrust class action.
On October 15, 2020, the Honorable Michael A. Shipp of the United States Court for the District of New Jersey appointed Karen M. Lerner to the Executive Committee in In re Bank of Nova Scotia Spoofing Litigation, 20 Civ. 11059 (D.N.J.). The case originates from the Bank of Nova Scotia’s alleged price manipulation of gold and silver futures contracts traded on the Commodity Exchange, Inc. over the course of several years, which formed the basis of the bank’s recent settlement with the CFTC and the DOJ for $77.4 million.
A New York federal judge on Friday consolidated seven proposed class actions alleging JPMorgan Chase has been illegally spoofing the futures market since 2009 and appointed Lowey Dannenberg PC and Kirby McInerney LLP as interim lead co-counsel.
Kirby McInerney was appointed as co-lead counsel in In re JPMorgan Treasury Futures Spoofing Litigation, 20 Civ. 03515 (S.D.N.Y.) by the Honorable Paul A. Engelmayer of the United States Court for the Southern District of New York on October 9, 2020. The case concerns the alleged long term manipulation of Treasury Futures that recently contributed to JPMorgan’s recent $920 million settlements with the DOJ, CFTC, and SEC.
The exchange-based investor class, represented by attorneys at Kirby McInerney LLP and Lovell Stewart Halebian Jacobson LLP, won initial approval of a $187 million settlement with Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and five other big banks in a complex, multidistrict case claiming that the banks rigged the London Interbank Offered Rate benchmark.
Kirby McInerney filed a response in support of interim lead counsel motion highlighting the firm’s experience and rigorous investigation regarding the direct impact on proposed class members in both the bitcoin and bitcoin related futures markets.
Kirby McInerney Partner Meghan Summers recently presented a report before the Chief Justice of Ireland. The report, which Ms. Summers co-authored, focuses on how class actions could be implemented in Ireland.
A Minnesota federal court ruled Wednesday that some of the country’s largest meatpacking companies, including Tyson and Cargill, will now face consolidated allegations of colluding to drive down prices of cattle used for beef production.
Up next on Judge Buchwald’s docket is the distribution agreement of $182 million worth of deals the exchange-based plaintiffs struck with Bank of America, Barclays, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and JP Morgan.
Charles Schwab Corp. and investors in financial instruments tied to the London Interbank Offered Rate on Friday urged the Second Circuit to reinstate claims against a slew of banks over their alleged manipulation of the benchmark, arguing they have proper antitrust standing and that the litigation belongs in U.S. federal courts.
A Manhattan federal judge on Friday approved a $182.5 million settlement between JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup and investors who accuse the two megabanks of rigging a key euro rate, signing off also on a roughly $36 million haul for plaintiffs’ firms that brought the antitrust class action.
The suit was filed last week in Brooklyn state court by several small New York distributors of cigarettes and other candy store items — Amsterdam Tobacco, Donohue Candy, Kingston Candy, Mountain Candy and Sunrise Candy — claiming that bigger out-of-state distributors for years have been allegedly giving kickbacks to stores that buy cigarettes from them.
A lawsuit filed this week accuses five of the state’s largest tobacco wholesalers of giving secret rebates to customers to drive down competition as part of an alleged scheme which may have violated state laws that set minimum prices on cigarettes.
Judge Buchwald in the Southern District of New York issued her memorandum and order in In re LIBOR-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 2262, No. 1:11-md-2262-NRB (S.D.N.Y.), the coordinated LIBOR litigation, on motions to dismiss the various actions.
LIBOR (the “London Interbank Offered Rate”) is the world’s primary benchmark for short-term interest rates, providing the settlement rate for well over $300 trillion in financial products of various types. Despite its importance, it is administered by an unregulated trade association and based on unverified quotes provided by banks whose financial interest is tied to the benchmark.
The criminal prosecution of investment banks is too difficult to take on, high-profile attorneys have told IBTimes UK, echoing a similar sense of unease that has troubled regulators and lawmakers as they debate the overhaul of the global financial markets.
UBS, the Swiss banking giant, is close to reaching settlements with American and British authorities over the manipulation of interest rates, the latest case in a multiyear investigation that has rattled the financial industry and spurred a public outcry for broad reform.
British authorities are set to announce significant changes to the interest rate at the heart of a recent manipulation scandal as they aim to improve the accuracy and reliability of the benchmark. On Friday, Martin Wheatley, the managing director of Britain?’s Financial Services Authority, will outline plans to increase oversight of the rate-setting process, which underpins more than $350 trillion of financial products like mortgages and student loans.
U.S. prosecutors are seeking more time to complete their investigation of alleged interest-rate fixing, while banks ensnared in the probe are trying to turn the clock to their advantage as they battle lawsuits claiming damages from rate-rigging.
A Vienna hedge fund alleges that it was harmed in the derivatives market when some of the world’s biggest banks manipulated a key benchmark interest rate, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in New York federal court.
The law firms of Kirby McInerney LLP, Sturman LLC, and Motley Rice LLC announced today that they have filed a class action against 13 global banks on behalf of a number of investors, alleging that the banks colluded to misreport and manipulate Libor rates, thereby harming investors in futures, swaps, and other Libor-based derivative products between January 2006 and June 2009.
Judge Christina A. Snyder of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has granted final approval of a $48 million settlement in a class action suit brought against Union Oil Company of California (now a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation).
New York officials have asked a federal court to ignore a joint motion to throw out an antitrust case against a slew of drug companies accused of scamming Medicare, scoffing at arguments the case was “too large.”
KM filed the first LIBOR manipulation lawsuit on behalf of investors and currently serves as court-appointed co-lead counsel for the exchange-based class alleging the fixing of prices of a benchmark interest rate. The case resulted in settlements totaling $190.45 million, which combined represent the largest recovery in a “futures-only” commodities class action litigation.
Whistleblower Spotlight
KM represented the person who received nearly $200 million, the largest-ever individual commodities whistleblower award (CFTC WB Award No. 21-WB-07). The information the whistleblower provided catalyzed investigations by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a U.S. federal regulator, and a foreign regulator into the manipulation of crucial financial benchmarks used by global banks as the basis for the pricing of fixed income securities and derivative products. The CFTC initially rejected the whistleblower’s award application, but the firm’s advocacy resulted in a successful appeal for the client.
