13207

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

EASTERN DIVISION

____________________________________

IN RE SULFURIC ACID ) MDL Docket No. 1536

ANTITRUST LITIGATION ) Case No. 03 C 4576

____________________________________)

This Document Relates To: ) Honorable Judge David H. Coar

) Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole

ALL RELATED ACTIONS )

JOINT STATUS REPORT

Pursuant to the Court’s order of September 3, 2008, Plaintiffs and Defendants Noranda,

Inc., Falconbridge Limited, and NorFalco LLC (collectively the “Noranda Defendants”), General

Alum New England Corp. d/b/a GAC Chemical Corporation, (“GAC”), Intertrade Holdings,

Inc., Koch Sulfur Products Company, Koch Sulfur Products Company LLC and Pressure Vessel

Services, Inc. hereby submit their Joint Status Report.

1. The first of these consolidated antitrust cases arising under Section 1 of the

Sherman Act was filed on February 21, 2003. On July 1, 2003, the Multidistrict Litigation Panel

entered a Conditional Transfer Order establishing this multidistrict litigation action before this

Court. See Dkt. No. 1.

2. Thereafter, the parties engaged in extensive fact and expert discovery. With limited

court-ordered exceptions, fact discovery in this case closed on July 1, 2005. The parties

completed expert discovery in April 2006.

3. On April 27, 2006, GAC filed its Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss the Plaintiffs’

Third Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint. See Dkt. No. 339. That motion was fully

briefed on June 15, 2006. GAC’s Position: GAC further notes that its pending motion to

Case 1:03-cv-04576 Document 595 Filed 09/16/08 Page 1 of 8
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dismiss renews and incorporates the motion to dismiss GAC originally filed on July 30, 2004

with respect to Plaintiffs’ Second Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint.

4. On May 22, 2006, all Defendants filed a joint Daubert motion to exclude the

testimony of Plaintiffs’ expert, Dr. Robert Tollison. See Dkt. No. 353. In addition, the Noranda

Defendants, PVS, GAC, and Intertrade, among others, filed a Daubert motion to exclude the

testimony of Plaintiffs’ expert, Dr. James McClave. See Dkt. No. 350. The Koch Defendants

filed a separate Daubert motion to exclude Dr. McClave’s testimony. See Dkt. No. 356 The

Marsulex Defendants have since withdrawn their support for, and joinder in these Daubert

motions due to the settlement agreement they entered into with Plaintiffs.

5. On June 15, 2006, the Court referred the three Daubert motions to Magistrate Judge

Jeffrey Cole for the preparation of reports and recommendations. See Dkt. Nos. 371 and 374.

All three Daubert motions were fully briefed on September 14, 2006, and on November 1, 2006,

the parties presented oral arguments on the motions. The motions remain pending before the

Magistrate Judge.

6. On or before July 31, 2006, the Defendants, other than E.I. du Pont de Nemours and

Company (“DuPont”) who had reached a settlement agreement with Plaintiffs, filed a total of

nine separate motions for summary judgment. Each Defendant, other than DuPont, joined in the

motions filed by the other defendants. However, Defendants Chemtrade Logistics (U.S.), Inc.

and Marsulex, Inc. (collectively “the Marsulex Defendants”) subsequently withdrew their

respective motions for summary judgment and their joinder in the other defendants’ motions due

to their settlement with the Plaintiffs. See Dkt. No. 569.

7. Thus, there are seven motions for summary judgment that have been fully briefed

since December 12, 2006 that are currently pending before the Court:

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(a) Motion for summary judgment filed by GAC (Dkt. No. 413);

(b) Motion for summary judgment filed by Noranda (Dkt. No. 418);

(c) Motion for summary judgment filed by Intertrade (Dkt. No. 422);

(d) Motion for summary judgment filed by Falconbridge Limited (Dkt. No. 426);

(e) Motion for summary judgment filed by PVS, Inc. (Dkt. No. 430);

(f) Motion for summary judgment filed by NorFalco LLC (Dkt. No. 433); and

(g) Motion for summary judgment filed by Koch Sulfur Products Company and Koch

Sulfur Products Company LLC (Dkt. No. 439).

8. On March 21, 2007, the Court granted Plaintiffs’ motion to certify a litigation

class of “All persons (excluding federal, state, and local governmental entities and political

subdivisions, the Defendants, and their respective parents, subsidiaries and their affiliates) who

purchased sulfuric acid in the United States directly from one or more of the Defendants or their

parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, or joint ventures during the period from January 1, 1988 through

January 16, 2003.”

1

See Dkt. Nos. 535 and 536.

9. To date, three of the Defendants in this action have reached settlements with

Plaintiffs. On December 20, 2006, the Court approved Plaintiffs’ settlement with DuPont for the

sum of $5 million. See Dkt. No. 531. On May 15, 2008, the Court approved Plaintiffs’

settlement with Marsulex and Chemtrade for a combined sum of $1.15 million. See Dkt. No.

589. These settlements provide for the Settling Defendants to cooperate in the continuing

prosecution of this case.

1

For purposes of this litigation, “sulfuric acid” refers to non-fuming sulfuric acid (chemical formula:

H2S04), which is for illustration purposes (although not exclusively) sold at strengths 93% and 98%. It

does not include spent regenerated or Florida fertilizer sulfuric acid. See Dkt. No. 552 and Exhibits “A”

and “B” thereto.

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10. Settlement discussions between Plaintiffs and certain remaining Defendants

occurred more than a year ago, but no agreements were reached, and there are no discussions

presently.

11. No pretrial schedule or trial date has been set.

.

Dated: September 16, 2008 Respectfully submitted:

_/s/ Mary Jane Fait _______

Mary Jane Fait

Theodore B. Bell

WOLF HALDENSTEIN ADLER

FREEMAN & HERZ LLC

55 West Monroe Street, Suite 1111

Chicago, Illinois 60603

Telephone: (312) 984-0000

Facsimile: (312) 984-0001

Joseph C. Kohn

Robert J. LaRocca

William E. Hoese

KOHN, SWIFT & GRAF, P.C.

One South Broad Street, Suite 2100

Philadelphia, PA 19107

Telephone: (215) 238-1700

Facsimile: (215) 238-1968

Steven A. Asher

David H. Weinstein

Mindee J. Reuben

WEINSTEIN KITCHENOFF & ASHER LLC

1845 Walnut Street, Suite 1100

Philadelphia, PA 19103

Telephone: (215) 545-7200

Facsimile: (215) 545-6535

Case 1:03-cv-04576 Document 595 Filed 09/16/08 Page 4 of 8
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Steven O. Sidener

Joseph M. Barton

GOLD BENNETT CERA & SIDENER LLP

595 Market Street, Suite 2300

San Francisco, CA 94105-2835

Telephone: (415) 777-2230

Facsimile: (415) 777-5189

Plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel

/s/ David C. Gustman

David C. Gustman

Jeffery M. Cross

Jill C. Anderson

FREEBORN & PETERS LLP

311 S. Wacker Drive, Ste. 3000

Chicago, Illinois 60606

Telephone: (312) 360-6000

Facsimile: (312) 360-6597

Counsel for Noranda Inc., Falconbridge

Limited, NorFalco LLC, and also on

behalf of General Alum New England

Corp., d/b/a GAC Chemical Corporation,

(“GAC”), Intertrade Holdings, Inc., Koch

Sulfur Products Company, Koch Sulfur

Products Company LLC and Pressure

Vessel Services

Case 1:03-cv-04576 Document 595 Filed 09/16/08 Page 5 of 8
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on this the 16

th

day of September, 2008, a copy of the Joint Status

Report was served by causing a true and correct copy to be delivered via facsimile and overnight

delivery via Federal Express to the attached Service List.

Dated: September 16, 2008 Respectfully submitted,

By: __/s/ Mary Jane Fait _________

Mary Jane Fait, Esq.

Theodore B. Bell, Esq.

WOLF HALDENSTEIN ADLER

FREEMAN & HERZ LLC

55 West Monroe Street, Suite 1111

Chicago, Illinois 60603

Tel: (312) 984-0000

Fax: (312) 984-0001

Counsel for Plaintiffs

Case 1:03-cv-04576 Document 595 Filed 09/16/08 Page 6 of 8
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SERVICE LIST

In Re Sulfuric Acid Antitrust Litigation; MDL No. 1536, Master File No. 03 C 4576

VIA FAX AND FEDERAL EXPRESS

FREEBORN & PETERS

David C. Gustman

Jeffrey M. Cross

311 South Wacker Drive, Suite 3000

Chicago, Illinois 60606

Telephone: (312) 360-6000

Fax Number: (312) 360-6520

Counsel for Defendants Falconbridge, Ltd.,

Noranda, Inc., and Norfalco LLC

SANCHEZ & DANIELS

Edward M. Ordonez

Hugo Chaviano

333 West Wacker Drive, Suite 500

Chicago, Illinois 60606

Telephone: (312) 641-1555

Fax Number: (312) 641-3004

Counsel for Defendants E.I. DuPont de Nemours

and Company, Inc. and Norfalco, LLC

HOWREY SIMON ARNOLD &

WHITE, LLP

Joel C. Chefitz

Todd L. McLawhorn

321 North Clark Street, Suite 3400

Chicago, Illinois 60610

Telephone: (312) 595-1239

Fax Number: (312) 595-2250

Counsel for Defendant Koch Industries, Inc.

WINSTON & STRAWN LLP

R. Mark McCareins

35 West Wacker Drive, 41

st

Floor

Chicago, Illinois 60601

Telephone: (312) 558-5600

Fax Number: (312) 558-5700

Counsel for Defendants Marsulex, Inc. and

ChemTrade

CONNELLY, ROBERTS &

McGIVNEY, LLC

Michael P. Connelly

William E. Snyder

Cory D. Anderson

One North Franklin, Suite 1200

Chicago, Illinois 60606

Telephone: (312) 251-9600

Fax Number: (312) 251-9601

Counsel for Defendant Intertrade

Holdings, Inc.

OGLETREE, DEAKINS, NASH,

SMOAK & STEWART, P.C.

Michael H. Cramer

Two National Plaza

20 S. Clark St., 25th Floor

Chicago, IL 60603

Telephone: (312) 558-1220

Facsimile: (312)-807-3619

Counsel for Defendant Pressure Vessel

Services, Inc.

BALLARD SPAHR ANDREWS &

INGERSOLL, LLP

Stephen J. Kastenberg

Eric W. Sitarchuk

Carrie E. Watt

1735 Market Street, 51

st

Floor

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-7599

Telephone: (215) 665-8500

Fax Number: (215) 864-8999

Counsel for Defendant E.I. DuPont de Nemours

and Company, Inc.

BOIES, SCHILLER & FLEXNER LLP

James P. Denvir

5301 Wisconsin, Ave., NW

Suite 800

Washington, D.C. 20015

Telephone: (202) 237-2727

Fax Number: (202) 237-6131

Counsel for Defendant E.I. DuPont de Nemours

and Company, Inc.

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VERILL & DANA, LLP

James T. Kilbreth

One Portland Square

P.O. Box 586

Portland, Maine 04112-0586

Telephone: (207) 774-4000

Fax Number: (207) 774-7499

Counsel for Defendant

GAC Chemical Corporation

DICKINSON WRIGHT PLLC

Edward H. Pappas

38525 Woodward Avenue

Suite 2000

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48304-2970

Telephone: (248) 433-7200

Fax Number: (248) 433-7274

Counsel for Defendant

PVS Chemicals, Inc.

DICKINSON WRIGHT PLLC

K. Scott Hamilton

500 Woodward Avenue

Suite 4000

Detroit, MI 48226-3425

Telephone: (313) 223-3636

Fax Number: (313) 223-3598

Counsel for Defendant

PVS Chemicals, Inc.

(VIA FACSIMILE ONLY)

KOHN, SWIFT & GRAF, P.C.

Joseph C. Kohn

William E. Hoese

Diana Liberto

Robert LaRocca

One South Broad Street, Suite 2100

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107

Telephone: (215) 238-1700

Fax Number: (215) 238-1968

(VIA FACSIMILE ONLY)

WEINSTEIN KITCHENOFF &

ASHER, LLC

Steven A. Asher

Mindee Reuben

1845 Walnut Street

Suite 1100

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103

Telephone: (215) 545-7200

Fax Number: (215) 545-6535

(VIA FACSIMILE ONLY)

GOLD BENNETT CERA &

SIDENER LLP

Steven O. Sidener

Joseph M. Barton

595 Market Street, Suite 2300

San Francisco, California 94105

Telephone: (415) 777-2230

Fax Number: (415) 777-5189

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