Kleen v. International Paper Company

Case Updates

The Seventh Circuit affirmed the class-certification order of the district court.

In its brief, the U.S. Chamber asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to reverse a trial court’s decision to certify a class action because the court failed to conduct the “rigorous analysis” that Rule 23 class certification case law requires. The appeal arises out of the certification of a class action seeking $11 billion in damages based on allegations that the defendants conspired to restrict the supply of containerboard in order to increase prices in violation of federal antitrust law. The district court certified a class action without ruling on defendants’ challenges to the methodologies employed by plaintiffs’ experts to establish common, classwide injury and damages.

The amicus brief argued that the district court improperly ignored plaintiffs’ inability to prove classwide injury by labeling questions about expert methodology as “merits questions.” The brief also argued that the district court erred by accepting plaintiffs’ damages models for the purpose of certification even though the court recognized that those models could generate (at best) an average overcharge without providing any way to assign damages to any particular class member.

Vincent Levy, Daniel M. Sullivan, and Benjamin F. Heidlage of Holwell, Shuster & Goldberg LLP served as co-counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center.