In re Vehicle Carrier Servs. Antitrust Litig.

• Decision Date: 18 January 2017
• Docket Number: 15-3355,Nos. 15-3353,15-3354,s. 15-3353
• Citation: 846 F.3d 71
• Parties: IN RE: VEHICLE CARRIER SERVICES ANTITRUST LITIGATION Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs Cargo Agents, Inc. ; International Transport Management Corp.; and Manaco International Forwarders, Inc.; Appellants in 15-3353 Martens Cars of Washington, Inc.; Hudson Charleston Acquisition, LLC d/b/a Hudson Nissan ; John O'Neil Johnson Toyota, LLC; Hudson Gastonia Acquisition, LLC ; HC Acquisition, LLC d/b/a Toyota of Bristol ; Desert European Motorcars, Ltd ; Hodges Imported Cars, Inc. d/b/a Hodges Subaru; Scotland Car Yard Enterprises d/b/a San Rafael Mitsubishi ; Hartley Buick/GMC Truck, Inc. d/b/a Hartley Honda; Panama City Automotive Group, Inc.d/b/a John Lee Nissan ; Empire Nissan of Santa Rosa, LLC, Appellants in 15-3354 End Payor Plaintiffs; Truck and Equipment Dealer Plaintiffs, Appellants in 15-3355
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

846 F.3d 71

IN RE: VEHICLE CARRIER SERVICES ANTITRUST LITIGATION Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs Cargo Agents, Inc. ; International Transport Management Corp.; and Manaco International Forwarders, Inc.; Appellants in 15-3353 Martens Cars of Washington, Inc.; Hudson Charleston Acquisition, LLC d/b/a Hudson Nissan ; John O'Neil Johnson Toyota, LLC; Hudson Gastonia Acquisition, LLC ; HC Acquisition, LLC d/b/a Toyota of Bristol ; Desert European Motorcars, Ltd ; Hodges Imported Cars, Inc. d/b/a Hodges Subaru; Scotland Car Yard Enterprises d/b/a San Rafael Mitsubishi ; Hartley Buick/GMC Truck, Inc. d/b/a Hartley Honda; Panama City Automotive Group, Inc.d/b/a John Lee Nissan ; Empire Nissan of Santa Rosa, LLC, Appellants in 15-3354 End Payor Plaintiffs; Truck and Equipment Dealer Plaintiffs, Appellants in 15-3355

Nos. 15-3353

15-3354

15-3355

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Argued: November 17, 2016

Opinion Filed: January 18, 2017

As Amended January 25, 2017

Kit Pierson, Christopher J. Cormier, David A. Young, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, 1100 New York Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 West, Washington, D.C. 20005, Robert N. Kaplan, Richard J. Kilsheimer [ARGUED], Gregory K. Arenson, Joshua H. Saltzman, Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP, 850 Third Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10022, Steven A. Kanner, Michael J. Freed, Michael E. Moskovitz, Freed Kanner London & Millen LLC, 2201 Waukegan Road, Suite 130, Bannockburn, IL 60015, Lewis H. Goldfarb, McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP, 1300 Mount Kemble Avenue, P.O. Box 2075, Morristown, NJ 07962, Solomon B. Cera, C. Andrew Dirksen, Cera LLP, 595 Market Street, Suite 2300, San Francisco, CA 94105, Joseph C. Kohn, Douglas A. Abrahams, William E. Hoese, Kohn Swift & Graf, P.C., One South Broad Street, Suite 2100, Philadelphia, PA 19107, Lee Albert, Gregory B. Linkh, Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP, 122 East 42nd Street, Suite 2920, New York, NY 10168, Gregory P. Hansel, Randall B. Weill, Michael Kaplan, Jonathan G. Mermin, Michael S. Smith, Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios LLP, One City Center, P.O. Box 9546, Portland, ME 04112, Eugene A. Spector, Jeffrey J. Corrigan, Jay S. Cohen, Rachel E. Kopp, Spector Roseman Kodroff & Willis, P.C., 1818 Market Street, Suite 2500, Philadelphia, PA 19103, W. Joseph Bruckner, Heidi M. Silton, Lockridge

Grindal Nausen P.L.L.P., 100 Washington Avenue South, Suite 2200, Minneapolis, MN 55401, Vincent J. Esades, Heins Mills & Olson, P.L.C., 310 Clifton Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55403, Joseph J. DePalma, Katrina Carroll, Steven J. Greenfogel, Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, 570 Broad Street, Suite 1201, Newark, NJ 07102, Edward D. Greenberg, David K. Monroe, GKG Law, P.C., 1055 Thomas Jefferson Street, N.W., Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20007, Benjamin Bianco, Gregory A. Frank, Frank LLP, 275 Madison Avenue, Suite 705, New York, NY 10016, Counsel for Appellants Cargo Agents, Inc., International Transport Management Corp., and Manaco International Forwarders, Inc.

Peter S. Pearlman, Cohn Lifland Pearlman Herrmann & Knopf LLP, Park 80 Plaza West-One, 250 Pehle Avenue, Suite 401, Saddle Brook, NJ 07663, Jonathon W. Cuneo, Joel Davidow, Katherine Van Dyck, Daniel Cohen, Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca, LLP, 507 C Street N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002, Benjamin David Elga, Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca, LLP, 16 Court Street, Suite 1012, Brooklyn, NY 11241, Don Barrett, David McMullan, Brian Herrington, Barrett Law Group, P.A., 404 Court Square, P.O. Box 927, Lexington, MS 39095, Shawn M. Raiter, Paul A. Sand, Larson King, LLP, 2800 Wells Fargo Place, 30 East Seventh Street, St. Paul, MN 55101, Dewitt Lovelace, Valerie Nettles, Lovelace & Associates, P.A., Suite 200, 12870 U.S. Highway 98 West, Miramar Beach, FL 32550, Gerard V. Mantese, David Hansma, Brendan Frey, Mantese Honigman Rossman & Williamson, P.C., 1361 East Big Beaver Road, Troy, MI 48083, Ben F. Pierce Gore, Pratt & Associates, 1871 The Alameda, Suite 425, San Jose, CA 95126, Charles Barrett, Charles Barrett, P.C., 6518 Highway 100, Suite 210, Nashville, TN 37205, Thomas P. Thrash, Thrash Law Firm, P.A., 1101 Garland Street, Little Rock, AR 72201, Armand Derfner, Derfner, Altman, & Wilborn, 575 King Street, Suite B, Charleston, SC 29403, Counsel for Appellants Martens Cars of Washington, Inc., Hudson Charleston Acquisition, LLC, d/b/a Hudson Nissan, John O'Neill Johnson Toyota, LLC, Hudson Gastonia Acquisition, LLC, HC Acquisition, LLC, d/b/a Toyota of Bristol, Desert European Motorcard, Ltd, Hodges Imported Cars, Inc., d/b/a Hodges Subaru, Scotland Car Yard Enterprises d/b/a San Rafael Mitsubishi, Hartley Buick/GMC Truck, Inc., d/b/a Hartley Honda, Panama City Automotive Group, Inc., d/b/a John Lee Nissan and Empire Nissan of Santa Rosa

Warren T. Burns [ARGUED], Daniel H. Charest, Will Thompson, E. Lawrence Vincent, Burns Charest LLP, 500 North Akard, Suite 2810, Dallas, TX 75201, Hollis Salzman, Bernard Persky, Meegan Hollywood, Robins Kaplan LLP, 601 Lexington Avenue, Suite 3400, New York, NY 10022, Joseph W. Cotchett, Steven N. Williams, Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP, San Francisco Airport Office Center, 840 Malcolm Road, Suite 200, Burlingame, CA 94010, James E. Cecchi, Carella, Byrne, Cecchi, Olstein, Brody & Agnello, P.C., 5 Becker Farm Road, Roseland, NJ 07068, Counsel for Appellant End Payor Plaintiffs

Eric R. Breslin, Duane Morris LLP, One Riverfront Plaza, 1037 Raymond Boulevard, Suite 1800, Newark, NJ 07102, Wayne A. Mack, J. Manly Parks, Andrew Sperl, Duane Morris LLP, 30 South 17th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103, Counsel for Appellant Truck and Equipment Dealer Plaintiffs

John R. Fornaciari, Robert M. Disch, Baker & Hostetler LLP, 1050 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 1100, Washington, D.C. 20036, Counsel for Appellees Nippon

Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha and NYK Line North America Inc.

James L. Cooper, Anne P. Davis, Adam M. Pergament, Arnold & Porter LLP, 601 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001, Robert B. Yoshitomi, Eric C. Jeffrey, Nixon Peabody LLP, 799 New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001, Counsel for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd., Mitsui O.S.K. Bulk Shipping (U.S.A.), LLC, World Logistics Service (U.S.A.) Inc., and Nissan Motor Car Carrier Co., Ltd.

Mark W. Nelson [ARGUED], Jeremy Calsyn, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006, Counsel for Appellees Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. and "K" Line America, Inc.

Roberto A. Rivera-Soto [ARGUED], Jason A. Leckerman, Ballard Spahr LLP, 210 Lake Drive East, Suite 200, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002, Benjamin F. Holt, Hogan Lovells US LLP, 555 Thirteenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004, Counsel for Appellees Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics AS, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics America LLC, and EUKOR Car Carriers, Inc.

Steven F. Cherry, Brian C. Smith, Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale & Dorr LLP, 1875 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006, Counsel for Appellees Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores, S.A. and CSAV Agency, LLC

Jeffrey F. Lawrence, Wayne Rohde, Cozen O'Connor PC, 1200 Nineteenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036, Melissa H. Maxman, Cohen & Gresser LLP, 1707 L Street, N.W., Suite 550, Washington, D.C. 20036, Counsel for Höegh Autoliners AS and Höegh Autoliners, Inc.

Renata B. Hesse, James J. Fredricks, Sean Sandoloski, United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, Room 3224, Washington, DC 20530, Counsel for Amicus Curiae United States of America

Tyler J. Wood, William H. Shakely, Joel F. Graham, Federal Maritime Commission, 800 North Capitol Street, NW, Washington, DC 20573, Counsel for Amicus Curiae Federal Maritime Commission

Before: AMBRO, SHWARTZ, FUENTES, Circuit Judges.

OPINION OF THE COURT

SHWARTZ, Circuit Judge.

Ocean common carriers transport cargo between foreign countries and the United States. In this case, Plaintiffs¹ used the services of such carriers to transport vehicles. Some plaintiffs made arrangements with and received vehicles directly from the carriers (direct purchaser plaintiffs or "DPPs"), while other plaintiffs obtained the benefit of the carrier services by ultimately receiving vehicles transported from abroad (indirect purchaser plaintiffs or "IPPs"). Plaintiffs allege that Defendants, who are ocean common carriers, entered into agreements to fix prices and reduce capacity in violation of federal antitrust laws and various state laws. Because the ocean common carriers allegedly engaged in acts prohibited by the Shipping Act of 1984, 46 U.S.C. § 40101 et seq. (the "Shipping Act" or the "Act"), and the Act both precludes private plaintiffs from seeking relief under the federal antitrust laws for such conduct and preempts the state law claims under circumstances like those presented here, the District Court correctly dismissed the complaints. We will therefore affirm.

I²

Defendants transport vehicles from their country of origin to the country where they will be sold, including the United States, at which point the vehicles are delivered to dealers and individuals, such as Auto Dealer IPPs, Truck Center IPPs, and End-Payor IPPs. The vehicle manufacturers and DPPs purchase vehicle carrier services from Defendants, and the costs of these services are passed on to IPPs.

In September 2012, law enforcement raided Defendants' offices in connection with antitrust investigations, and several Defendants thereafter pleaded guilty to antitrust violations based on price-fixing, allocating customers, and rigging bids for vehicle carrier services to and from the United States and elsewhere.

Plaintiffs filed complaints with jury demands alleging that Defendants entered into "secret" agreements in connection with Defendants' carriage of vehicles. These agreements included: (1) price increase coordination agreements; (2) agreements not to compete, including coordination of responses to price reduction requests and allocation of customers and routes; and (3) agreements to restrict capacity by means of agreed-upon fleet reductions. Plaintiffs claim they suffered...