Winston & Strawn Recognized in Daily Journal’s Top Verdicts of 2014

Winston & Strawn was recognized in the Daily Journal’s Top Verdicts of 2014 – Top 20 Defense Results for its representation of NEC Corp. and Panasonic in the class action lawsuit In re: Optical Disk Drive Products Antitrust Litigation.

The case, led by Winston antitrust partner Jeffrey Kessler, involved a large class action alleging a conspiracy by 27 technology companies to fix the prices of hundreds of millions of optical disk drives sold between 2004 and 2010. Indirect purchasers claimed that overcharges caused by the driving up of prices by optical disc drive manufacturers resulted in roughly $2.3 billion in damages (before trebling).

After securing favorable settlements in the direct purchaser action on behalf of both clients, the Winston teams led the joint defense group’s efforts to defeat the indirect purchasers’ motion for class certification and saw their efforts rewarded in October 2014, when the district court declined to certify an indirect class.

Other Winston attorneys who played a key role in the case include partners George Mastoris, David Greenspan, and counsel Susannah Torpey, for the defense of Panasonic. Associates Matthew DalSanto, and Jeanifer Parsigian assisted in the NEC Corp. defense.