Judge approves $139M settlement, ending lithium antitrust case

A federal judge approved a settlement Tuesday in a long-standing antitrust battle involving lithium ion batteries that will bring the case to its conclusion for a total of $139 million.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers also approved the plaintiffs’ attorney fee request of nearly $42 million, which equates to 30 percent of the overall settlement fund. In re: Lithium Ion Batteries Antitrust Litigation, 13-MD2420 (N.D. Cal., filed Feb. 6, 2013).

“It’s an exceptional settlement and we were very pleased that the court recognized that,” said Bruce L. Simon, a partner with Pearson Simon & Warshaw LLP.

“It was a long journey with a lot of obstacles and a lot of very intense fighting about the merits of the case,” he added.

The biggest payouts came from Panasonic Corp. and LG Chem Ltd., both of whom doled out more than $40 million. Samsung SDI Co. paid $24.5 million and Sony Corp. contributed $19 million.

This marks the end of a long saga. The case was filed in 2013 among a rash of antitrust cases in the Northern District of California. The alleged antitrust violations occurred from 2000 to 2011.