Natural Gas Plaintiffs Win Approval of $14.65 Million Antitrust Settlement

On August 25, 2009, United States District Judge Philip M. Pro granted final approval of six settlement agreements totaling $14.65 million between defendant marketers of natural gas and a class of California natural gas purchasers represented by Zelle Hofmann. These settlements with the last-remaining defendants in the California direct-purchaser antitrust class actions, part of the multi-district litigation captioned In re Western States Wholesale Natural Gas Antitrust Litigation, bring the total recovery for the California direct-purchaser class to $25.95 million. Zelle Hofmann was appointed by the court as co-lead counsel for the class of direct purchasers who bought natural gas during the California energy crisis of 2000-02, when alleged anticompetitive conduct by the defendants artificially raised the price of natural gas. Zelle Hofmann attorneys Craig Corbitt, Francis Scarpulla, Jiangxiao Athena Hou, and Patrick Clayton worked on the matter.