Latham gets defense win for German automakers in antitrust case

Attorneys at Latham & Watkins LLP scored a defense victory Tuesday for five German automobile manufacturers accused of conspiring not to compete against each other on the size of gas tanks.

Judge Charles R. Breyer of the Northern District of California on Tuesday dismissed the class action but granted the plaintiffs -- a class of consumers and another of auto dealers -- another try to amend their complaints against Audi AG, BMW AG, Daimler AG, Porsche AG, and Volkswagen AG along with their American subsidiaries to "salvage their claims."

Plaintiffs argued the companies' goal was to limit differentiation between the vehicles. Breyer dismissed the cases without prejudice last year, concluding any agreements on specific aspects of the vehicles did not support a "'de facto whole car conspiracy' to reduce innovation."

The San Francisco judge was dissatisfied with the amended, more limited complaint, saying it didn't support the plaintiffs' allegation of collusion.

The Latham defense team was led by San Francisco partner Daniel M. Wall, who worked along with partner Belinda S. Lee, also of San Francisco, and Michael Lacovara of New York City and London. They were assisted by San Francisco-based associates Alicia R. Jovais and Elizabeth H. Yandell. In re: German Automotive Manufacturers Antitrust Litigaton, 17-04314 (N.D. Cal., filed July 28, 2017).

The complaints alleged a conspiracy by the companies to standardize various specifications related to the emissions treatment solution known as "AdBlue," including tank size, dosing rate, and refill interval.

"Both Amended Complaints focus on an alleged conspiracy related to the amount of AdBlue a vehicle stores and uses as part of the diesel emissions treatment process," Wall wrote in a motion to dismiss last October. "Neither Complaint plausibly ties BMW AG to such a 'conspiracy' (even if one were to assume that such an agreement is actionable under the Sherman Act)."

Leslie E. Weaver, an attorney with Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP of Oakland, represents the plaintiffs.