A recent Law 360 story by Anne Cullen, “Duane Morris Win $850K in Cut on $3.1M Auto Parts MDL” reports that Duane Morris LLP saw a fee request granted by the Michigan federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation (MDL) surrounding an alleged conspiracy to stifle competition in the auto parts industry, scoring just under $850,000 from a $3.1 million deal cut with Robert Bosch GmbH and others.  In a four-page order, U.S. District Judge Marianne O. Battani approved Duane Morris’ bid for nearly a third of the multimillion-dollar deal, which Bosch, Mitsuba Corp. T. RAD Co. Ltd. And Hitachi Automotive Systems Ltd. agreed to pay to settle truck dealerships’ claims the companies conspired to maintain inflated prices on starters, alternators and radiators.

The decision lets the firm pocket a little more than $847,000 — which amounts to 30 percent of what's left in the settlement pool after $246,000 is deducted to cover settlement costs — plus another $33,000 to cover expenses.  It also pushes the firm’s total fee award within the starter, alternator and radiator track of the MDL to $1.17 million, after Duane Morris won $325,000 fees in June as part of a 1.3 million deal with Mitsubishi.  Judge Battani preliminarily signed off on the settlement with Bosch and the three other companies in August, and logged her final blessing for the deal alongside the fee approval.

The settlement stipulates that T. RAD and Hitachi will each pony up about a million dollars, and Bosch and Mitsuba split the remainder.  Case filings indicate the settlement will cover more than 1,000 estimated members of a class that primarily involves dealers of medium- and heavy-duty trucks as well as forestry and construction equipment that indirectly purchased starters, alternators or radiators since 2000.

Another multimillion-dollar deal within the sprawling MDL moved forward when Judge Battani gave Toyoda Gosei Co. Ltd.  The initial go-ahead on its $10.8 million deal with auto dealerships over occupant safety systems, constant velocity joint boot products, automotive hoses, body sealing products, interior trim products and brake hoses.  The expansive litigation began after a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the alleged scheme in 2011, and has already cost companies within the industry more than $2.5 billion in fines.

In 2017, the firm nabbed two fee awards within the automotive bearings track — $1.3 million in November and up to $2.8 million in April — as well as a $1.5 million award in 2016 for litigation surrounding wire harnesses and occupant safety systems.

The case is Rush Truck Centers of Alabama Inc. et al v. Mitsubishi Electric Corp. et al., case number 2:15-cv-14096, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.  The MDL is In re: Automotive Parts Antitrust Litigation, case number 2:12-md-02311, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.