As trial nears end, capacitor antitrust case settles

A settlement was reached between a class of plaintiffs and the two remaining defendants in a multi-year litigation over alleged conspiracy to fix prices of capacitors, both sides announced in court Tuesday.

Plaintiffs' counsel told U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco that an agreement had been reached that morning between the class of more than 1,800 U.S. companies and the defendants, capacitor company Nippon Chemi-Con and its U.S.-based subsidiary United Chemi-Con. In re: Capacitors Antitrust Litigation, 3:17-md-02801-JD, (N.D. Cal.).

Tuesday was intended to be a long day of trial, with the defense planning to call three final witnesses and plaintiffs' counsel planning to cross-examine them as well as the defense's expert witness, economist Laila Haider. Instead, the jurors were discharged.

Joseph R. Saveri of Joseph Saveri Law Firm LLP represents the plaintiffs. He expressed how the jury's presence helped both parties reach this settlement. Joseph J. Bial and Roberto Finzi of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP, who represent the defendants, echoed Saveri's sentiments about the effect of a case nearing a jury decision.

Frinzi said, "The process of getting here ... is absolutely essential to reaching a result."

The case now moves to the class settlement approval process, which is expected to take 90 to 120 days. Donato said that after these past few weeks of trial he is now much more informed on the case and has his own number in mind for a fair and reasonable settlement amount.

"If the settlement looks too low, it will not be approved," Donato said. "$5 million is certainly not going to fly." He was referring to the most recent settlement in the overall matter, in which another capacitor company, defendant Matsuo Electric Co. Ltd., agreed to pay $5 million on Dec. 3 to end claims it took part in a conspiracy.

Saveri noted in an interview Tuesday that the latest settlement in the litigation that began in 2014 is among several agreements achieved with other defendants.

"We are proud of the settlement reached with the two remaining defendants during the trial," he said. "The damages in this case are $427 million. Our settlements exceed $600 million, which is over the damages, which is very rare in an antitrust class action. Frankly, I can't remember another example. So I think we've done a good job."

Asked about Donato's comments Saveri said, "It's important in a case like this that the settlement consideration is commensurate with the claims of the class. We're confident that the size of the settlements will satisfy the class action settlement approval standards. It's always a challenge, and we've certainly heard it in this case from a number of defendants, that because of their financial condition, that they would not be able to afford to settle the case without excessive burden."

Attorneys for the defendants declined to comment after the court session.