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Duane Morris Takeaway: This week's episode features Duane Morris partners Jerry Maatman and Sean McConnell with their discussion of the key trends and developments analyzed in the 2026 edition of the Antitrust Class Action Review.
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Episode Transcript
Jerry Maatman: Welcome to our listeners. Thank you for being here for our weekly podcast series, the Class Action Weekly Wire. I'm Jerry Maatman, a partner at Duane Morris, and joining me today is my colleague and partner from Philadelphia, Sean McConnell, who is the chair of the Duane Morris Antitrust and Competition Department. Thanks for being on the podcast, Sean.
Sean McConnell: Thank you, Jerry. Happy to be part of the podcast.
Jerry: Today on the podcast, we are discussing the recent publication of this year's edition of the Duane Morris Antitrust Class Action Review. Listeners can find the e-book publication on our blog, the Duane Morris Class Action Defense Blog. Sean, can you tell our listeners a bit about this publication and desk reference?
Sean: Absolutely, Jerry. In 2025, class action litigation involving antitrust claims had several key developments. Most antitrust class actions are settled before trial, and one of the most critical phases is class certification. Thus, the order granting or denying a motion to certify a class in these cases is critical. To assist with understanding what this means for businesses facing antitrust claims, Duane Morris has released the Duane Morris Antitrust Class Action Review – 2026, which analyzes the key rulings and litigation developments in 2025, and the significant trends that are apt to impact these types of actions in 2026. We hope that companies will benefit from this resource and their compliance with these evolving laws and standards.
Jerry: Well, I know you're a thought leader in this space, and one of the notable shifts that we saw in 2025 in the cases involve pricing algorithms, information sharing, and data management. And this trend seemingly mirrors the technological evolution within organizations. As businesses rely more heavily upon automated pricing and complex data systems. Plaintiffs' lawyers are adapting their antitrust strategies to challenge those tools and technologies. What's your take on this space in the courts over the past year, Sean?
Sean: Great question, Jerry. In In re Hard Disk Drive Suspension Assemblies Antitrust Litigation, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California certified two classes in a long-running price-fixing case. The plaintiffs alleged that two manufacturers of hard disk drive suspension assemblies conspired from 2003 to 2016 to fix prices, inflating the cost of hard drives and devices containing them. The court certified both a reseller class and an end-user class. Defendants argued that the named reseller plaintiffs weren't typical of the class because some large buyers negotiated better deals, and that "pass-through" defenses made them atypical. The court disagreed, however, holding that in price-fixing cases, differences in purchasing arrangements don't defeat typicality, as long as the central question of whether there was a conspiracy is common to everyone. As for the end-users, defendants claim there were conflicts between corporate buyers and illegal consumers. Again, the court found the core issue, an alleged price-fixing conspiracy, was shared across the class. Finding that common issues predominated, and that class treatment was appropriate, the court granted that certification.
Jerry: Well, that's an interesting take on that space. I know in past years, labor wage suppression antitrust cases were in the main, but took a bit of a backseat, it seemed, this year to antitrust cases involving intercollegiate sports.
Sean: Yes, absolutely. One notable one was Brantmeier v. NCAA, where a federal court in North Carolina certified two classes in an antitrust challenge to the NCAA's tennis prize money rules. Two current and former Division I tennis players allege the NCAA's rules – limiting athletes' ability to accept prize money – amount to price-fixing and a group boycott in violation of the Sherman Act. They claim the rules suppress the market of college tennis players' labor. The NCAA argued most players weren't good enough to earn meaningful prize money, and that lifting the rules could hurt lower-level athletes. The court rejected those arguments, emphasizing that rules apply uniformly to all Division I tennis players, making the core legal question of whether the rules violate antitrust law common to the entire class. The court granted class certification, finding that common issues predominated, and that a class action was the most efficient way to resolve the dispute.
Jerry: I know you mentioned that class certification is, in essence, the Holy Grail in these cases, and that antitrust class actions either shatter, vaporize, or end up getting monetized based on class certification. In terms of the scorecard over 2025, how did the plaintiffs' bar do in converting their case filings into certified class actions?
Sean: Well, Jerry, since we've already highlighted two victories for plaintiffs, you'll probably be unsurprised to hear that in 2025, class certifications were granted in 77% of antitrust class actions, or in 17 of 22 motions. That's up from 68% in 2024, where 15 out of 22 motions for class certification are granted. So, last year, the plaintiffs' bar was quite successful in getting motions for class certification granted.
Jerry: I know it's somewhat of a simplification, but nonetheless apt in terms of an analogy that the business model of the plaintiffs' bar is to find the client, file the lawsuit, certify it, and then monetize it. How did the plaintiffs' bar do in terms of the top settlements in the antitrust class action space over the past year?
Sean: In 2025, we saw the biggest settlement numbers ever, and antitrust class actions led the charge. The top 10 antitrust class action settlements totaled $46 billion, a huge increase from the $8.42 billion in 2024, and the $11.74 billion in 2023, which was nearly a three-fold increase from the 2022 number.
Jerry: Those are phenomenal settlement numbers in this space. Here at Duane Morris in the Class Action Antitrust Group, we're tracking 2026 settlements in this area, and we'll be sure to keep our listeners and readers of our blog updated on those developments. Well, thanks, Sean, for being here today and lending your thought leadership in this space. Readers, listeners, please stop by the blog and pick up and download your free copy of the Duane Morris Antitrust Class Action Review for 2026.
Sean: Thank you, as always, Jerry, and thank you for the listeners.
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