Plaintiff's Recovery
Crowell & Moring's traditional clientele consists of large and medium-sized corporations, and our work for them principally involves defending their interests in litigation, in regulatory disputes with government agencies, and in business transactional work. However, from time-to-time our clients find themselves in situations in which they have been victimized by illegal acts by other companies or the United States or foreign governments. Whether it is antitrust cartels, patent infringement, paying excessive import or export duties or taxes, or injuries by acts of foreign governments, our clients sometimes find themselves having lost substantial amounts of money and in need of redress.
In such cases, it often is critical to balance the company's obligations to its shareholders to maximize recovery, with the company's need to preserve important business relationships with suppliers or other business partners, to avoid undermining government relationships, or to otherwise minimize the risks attendant to proactive litigation. Our role is to balance these potentially competing considerations, and develop creative strategies for obtaining appropriate recovery while maintaining those critical business relationships.
Crowell & Moring's plaintiff recovery practice thus works to produce client recoveries through advocacy — typically in court or before arbitration panels — as well as through creative problem solving. We achieve our clients' business objectives and solve their business problems with a sophistication that comes from being able to see both sides of a problem.
Our recovery practice focuses on the following principal areas:
A key component of these recovery efforts is our creativity, in partnership with our clients, in crafting innovative fee and risk-sharing arrangements. We have pursued successful recovery efforts through standard fees, fixed fees, success fee arrangements and contingent fee arrangements. These matters require innovative thinking on the part of our in-house counsel clients, who are seeking to enhance the value of corporate legal departments in new ways. Thus, it is important that we be prepared to take substantial risk associated with our ability to win for the client.
Our Practice
Antitrust recovery actions are a way for companies to recoup money if they have been harmed -- typically through overcharges associated with collusion among the company's suppliers. Corporate legal departments can ill afford to allow these opportunities to pass without recovering money. Yet, general counsel are often faced with the Hobson's choice of managing a case internally — with scarce resources — or joining a class action that is ill-suited to recovering a large purchaser's overcharges.
Crowell & Moring provides companies with a distinctive and more sophisticated recovery action alternative. Whether as part of a group of plaintiffs or on an individual basis, corporate clients are able to balance their relationships with their suppliers with their obligation to their shareholders for reparations. We craft a balanced and sophisticated approach that demonstrates resolve and commitment to results, while at the same time maintaining the relationships with the other side. Recovery actions are not only about knowing how to win a case. They are also about knowing how to use litigation or arbitration to resolve outstanding liability, while maintaining supplier-customer relationships going forward.
Crowell & Moring's antitrust recovery practice provides a superior alternative to class actions for several reasons. First , we are frequently able to achieve recoveries for clients that far exceed those of a class settlement. Second , we have the experience and sophistication to pursue business settlements for clients that are often ignored by class counsel or inappropriate to class settlements. Third , we pursue global solutions for our clients whereas class actions often only look at solutions in the United States. With offices in London and Brussels and relationships around the world, Crowell & Moring has experience litigating before U.S. and foreign courts and arbitration panels.
We were also one of the first firms to bring an antitrust recovery action before the U.K.-wide Competition Appeal Tribunal in London.
Crowell & Moring has represented dozens of Fortune 500 companies in recovery actions, and recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients through these efforts. For example, we have achieved the following successes:
- In price manipulation collusion litigation involving the copper industry, we represented 51 companies that had opted out of a class action. We settled with the defendants for more than ten times the amount our clients would have received (based on the value of their purchases) had they remained in the class and participated in the class settlement.
- In price-fixing litigation involving the explosives industry, we organized a consortium of the largest mining companies in the U.S. and negotiated multi-million dollar settlements on their behalf with manufacturers of commercial explosives. This recovery far exceeded the recovery of similarly-situated plaintiffs who took part in the class action against the manufacturer.
While these past results may not be representative of the potential outcome in every case, we maintain an active docket of plaintiff's representation. For example, Crowell & Moring:
- Currently represents a group of plaintiffs in U.S. price-fixing litigation and U.K. CAT Tribunal proceedings related to the electrical and mechanical carbon products industry where the DOJ and EC has each issued fines and found cartel behavior.
- Currently represents a group of plaintiffs in price-fixing litigation related to the parcel tanker industry where the DOJ and EC has each issued fines and found cartel behavior.
- Currently represents a plaintiffs group in price-fixing litigation related to the dynamic random access memory computer chip industry where the DOJ has each issued criminal fines and found cartel behavior.
- Currently represents a plaintiffs group in price-fixing litigation related to the rubber chemicals industry where the DOJ has issued criminal fines and found cartel behavior.