2021 Antitrust Annual Report: Class Action Filings in Federal Court

Abstract

The 2021 Private Antitrust Enforcement Report provides various empirical analyses of antitrust class actions litigated in federal court from 2009 through 2021. It addresses the number of antitrust class action complaints filed each year, the amount of time on average to reach a settlement, the mean and median recoveries, the attorneys' fees and costs awarded, the total settlement amounts in each year and overall, the law firms that represented plaintiffs and defendants in antitrust class action settlements, the cumulative totals for claims administrators involved in the settlement process, and related information. The Report also distinguishing private antitrust enforcement by industruy, by type of claim—conspiracy claims (under Section 1 of the Sherman Act) as opposed to claims based on unilateral conduct (Section 2 of the Sherman Act)—and by type of plaintiff—whether claims were brought on behalf of direct or indirect purchasers. We hope that these annual reports are valuable to the academy and the public and private sectors, and that they analyze offer a firmer empirical basis than would otherwise be possible for private and public discussions, including about enforcement of the antitrust laws through private class actions.

Keywords: Antitrust, Private Enforcement, Civil Procedure, Class Actions, Federal Courts, Economics, Empirical