Opinion ID: 7697
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Summary and Procedural History

Text: 1 Plaintiffs-Appellees, Great Western Directories, Inc. (Great Western) and Canyon Directories, Inc. (Canyon), filed suit alleging that Defendants-Appellants, Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, et al. (collectively, SWB), violated Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, violated the Texas Free Enterprise and Antitrust Act, violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and tortiously interfered with business relations. Appellants allegedly orchestrated an affiliation wide concerted action to extend the SWB monopoly of the yellow pages market and to eliminate competition by raising the costs of doing business as an independent directory and by reducing the price of advertising in its wholly owned classified directory by 40%. 2 A jury returned a verdict in favor of Great Western and Canyon. The jury found damages of $5 million on Great Western's antitrust claims, $50,000 in actual and $50,000 in additional damages on its DTPA claims, and $50,000 in actual and $50,000 in punitive damages for its tortious interference claims. The jury found damages of $9,400 on Canyon's antitrust claims, $10,000 in actual and $10,000 in additional damages under its DTPA claims, and $10,000 in actual and $10,000 in punitive damages on its tortious interference claims. Both plaintiffs were awarded attorneys' fees. 3 Following the verdict, Appellants moved for JNOV and for a new trial. On July 27, 1990, the district court entered judgment on the verdict, awarding Great Western $15 million and Canyon $28,200 in trebled antitrust damages and awarding both plaintiffs attorneys' fees; no damage award was made on the state law claims. On May 8, 1992, the district court held a hearing on Appellees' motion for injunctive relief and on Appellants' motions for judgment as a matter of law and new trial. On July 2, 1993, the district court entered a final judgment granting a permanent injunction and denying Appellants' post-trial motions. 4 On July 9, 1993, Appellants filed a motion to stay the injunction pending appeal. On July 29, 1993, Appellants filed its notice of appeal. On December 7, 1993, the district court entered its final judgment, denied Appellants' motion for stay, and refused to extend its injunction beyond the parties.