In re Potash Antitrust Litigation
| Decision Date | 22 August 1994 |
| Docket Number | MDL No. 981.,Civ. No. 3-93-197,3-94-649 and 3-93-684 |
| Citation | 866 F. Supp. 406 |
| Parties | In Re POTASH ANTITRUST LITIGATION. NEVE BROTHERS, et al., Plaintiffs, v. POTASH CORPORATION OF SASKATCHEWAN, et al., Defendants. Angela COLEMAN, et al., Plaintiffs, v. NEW MEXICO POTASH, INC., et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
Joseph M. Alioto, Alioto Law Office, San Francisco, CA, Guido Saveri, Richard Saveri, Saveri & Saveri, San Francisco, CA, Marc M. Seltzer, Corinblit & Seltzer, Los Angeles, CA, Joseph R. Saveri, Lieff Cabraser & Heimann, San Francisco, CA, Lawrence G. Papale, Cannata & Papale, San Francisco, CA, James Belford Brown, Freeman Brown Hartmann Sperry & D'Aiuto, Stockton, CA, Daniel J. Mogin, Mogin & Kendrick, San Diego, CA, Sherman Kassof, Kassof Law Office, San Francisco, CA, for Neve Bros., Neve Roses, Inc.
Joseph M. Alioto, Alioto Law Office, San Francisco, CA, Guido Saveri, Saveri & Saveri, San Francisco, CA, Marc M. Seltzer, Corinblit & Seltzer, Los Angeles, CA, Francis O. Scarpulla, Scarpulla Law Office, San Francisco, CA, Joseph R. Saveri, Lieff Cabraser & Heimann, San Francisco, CA, Lawrence G. Papale, Cannata & Papale, San Francisco, CA, James Belford Brown, Freeman Brown Hartmann Sperry & D'Aiuto, Stockton, CA, Daniel J. Mogin, Mogin & Kendrick, San Diego, CA, Sherman Kassof, Kassof Law Office, San Francisco, CA, for J.P.M. Ranches, Inc.
Michael Evan Jaffe, Eugene J. Meigher, James P. Mercurio, Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin & Kahn, Washington, DC, Andra Greene, Irell & Manella, Newport Beach, CA, Lawson A.W. Hunter, Stikeman Elliott, Toronto, Canada, for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc., Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Sales, Ltd., P.C.S. Sales (Iowa) Inc., P.C.S. Sales (Indiana), Inc.
Victor S. Friedman, Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, New York City, Stephen D. Alexander, Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, Los Angeles, CA, for Rio Algom, Ltd., Potash Co. of America, Inc.
Ronald S. Katz, Gary Benton, Coudert Bros., San Francisco, CA, for Kalium Chemicals, Ltd., Kalium Canada, Ltd.
David C. Gustman, Freeborn & Peters, Chicago, IL, Ron R. Goldie, Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro, Los Angeles, CA, for Noranda, Inc., Noranda Minerals Inc., Noranda Sales Corp., Ltd., Noranda Sales, Inc., Central Canada Potash Ltd.
Richard J. Favretto, Marc Gary, Kerry Lynn Edwards, Lawrence S. Robbins, Mayer Brown & Platt, Washington, DC, William J. Reifman, Mayer Brown & Platt, San Francisco, CA, Gordon Gene Busdicker, John Dwyer French, Faegre & Benson, Minneapolis, MN, Richard J. Favretto, Marc Gary, Kerry Lynn Edwards, Lawrence S. Robbins, Mayer Brown & Platt, Washington, DC, for I.M.C. Fertilizer Group, Inc.
Gerald A. Connell, John M. Taladay, Lee H. Simowitz, Baker & Hostetler, Washington, DC, Ralph Zarefsky, Baker & Hostetler, Los Angeles, CA, Leon R. Goodrich, Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, St. Paul, MN, for Cominco, Ltd., Cominco American Inc.
Stephen A. Marshall, Rubin Baum Levin Constant & Friedman, New York City, Robert Shelley Draper, O'Melveny & Myers, Los Angeles, CA, for Trans-Resources Inc., Nine West Corp., Cedar Chemical Corp., New Mexico Potash Corp., Eddy Potash, Inc. Patrick J. Grannan, Chimicles Burt Jacobsen & McNew, Los Angeles, CA, C. Oliver Burt, III, Mark C. Rifkin, Chimicles Burt Jacobsen & McNew, Haverford, PA, Marguerite R. Goodman, Goodman Law Office, Wynnewood, PA, Eugene Mikolajczyk, Kevin M. Prongay, Prongay & Mikolajczyk, Pacific Palisades, CA, for Angela Coleman.
John D. Levine, Dorsey & Whitney, Minneapolis, MN, Stephen A. Marshall, Martin P. Michael, Rubin Baum Levin Constant & Friedman, New York City, Robert Shelley Draper, O'Melveny & Myers, Los Angeles, CA, for New Mexico Potash Corp., Eddy Potash, Inc.
John D. Levine, Dorsey & Whitney, Minneapolis, MN, Wayne A. Cross, Dewey Ballantine, New York City, for Mississippi Chemical Corp.
Jerome B. Pederson, Fredrikson & Byron, Minneapolis, MN, Gerald Zingone, Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin & Kahn, Washington, DC, George S. Cary, Irell & Manella, Newport Beach, CA, for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc., Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Sales, Ltd.
Leon R. Goodrich, Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, St. Paul, MN, Douglas E. Rosenthal, Susan M. Muchmore, Coudert Brothers, Washington, DC, for Kalium Chemicals Ltd., Kalium Canada, Ltd.
Leon R. Goodrich, Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, St. Paul, MN, David C. Gustman, Freeborn & Peters, Chicago, IL, for Noranda, Inc., Noranda Minerals Inc., Noranda Sales Corp., Ltd., Central Canada Potash Co., Inc.
Gordon Gene Busdicker, John Dwyer French, Faegre & Benson, Minneapolis, MN, Richard J. Favretto, Marc Gary, Kerry Lynn Edwards, Lawrence S. Robbins, Mayer Brown & Platt, Washington, DC, for Fertilizer Group, Inc.
Leon R. Goodrich, Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, St. Paul, MN, Eric H. Queen, Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, New York City, for Potash Co. of America, Inc.
Mark Reinhardt, Reinhardt & Anderson, St. Paul, MN, Orrin S. Estebo, Estebo Schnobrich Frank & Solie, Redwood Falls, MN, Warren Rubin, Gross Sklar & Metzger, Philadelphia, PA, Michael J. Freed, Much Shelist Freed Denenberg Ament & Eiger, Chicago, IL, Joseph Goldberg, Freedman Boyd & Daniels, Albuquerque, NM, Lynn L. Sarko, Keller Rohrback, Seattle, WA, Jack Weston Hanson, Hanson & Assoc., Minneapolis, MN, Steve W. Berman, Hagens & Berman, Seattle, WA, Thomas J. Potter, Ludens Potter & Burch, Morrison, IL, Pat M. Barrett, Jr., Barrett Law Office, Lexington, MS, Francis O. Scarpulla, Scarpulla Law Office, San Francisco, CA, Vernon N. Reaser, Reaser & Wall, Victoria, TX, Joel C. Meredith, Meredith & Cohen, Philadelphia, PA, Robert N. Kaplan, Kaplan & Kilsheimer, New York City, Charles R. Watkins, Susman Saunders & Buehler, Chicago, IL, Eugene A. Spector, Mark S. Goldman, Paul J. Scarlato, Spector & Roseman, Philadelphia, PA, Eric D. Freed, Freed Law Office, Los Angeles, CA, for Blomkest Fertilizer, Inc.
Lynn L. Sarko, Keller Rohrback, Seattle, WA, Charles R. Watkins, Susman Saunders & Buehler, Chicago, IL, for Hahnaman Albrecht, Inc.
Charles Harley Johnson, Johnson & Assoc., St. Paul, MN, Mark Reinhardt, Reinhardt & Anderson, St. Paul, MN, for John Peterson.
Elliot S. Kaplan, Linda S. Foreman, Lateesa Thamani Agunbiade, Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi, Minneapolis, MN, Joseph W. Cotchett, Susan Y. Illston, Mark D. Eibert, John L. Fitzgerald, Cotchett Illston & Pitre, Burlingame, CA, Arthur N. Bailey, Bailey Law Office, Jamestown, NY, Leonard B. Simon, Dennis Stewart, Milberg Weiss Bershad Secthrie & Learach, San Diego, CA, for Laing-Gro Fertilizers, Inc.
Joseph Goldberg, Freedman Boyd & Daniels, Albuquerque, NM, John P. Bailey, Bailey Law Office, Bemidji, MN, James S. Bailey, Jr., Bailey Harring & Peterson, Denver, CO, for Clearbrook A.G. Service, Inc.
James B. Sloan, Pedersen & Houpt, Chicago, IL, William T. Gotfryd, Gotfryd Law Office, Chicago, IL, for Reamford Liquid Fertilizer Inc. James B. Sloan, Pedersen & Houpt, Chicago, IL, William T. Gotfryd, Gotfryd Law Office, Chicago, IL, Eliot Norman, Thompson & McMullan, Richmond, VA, for Tolley's, Inc., James River Farm Service Inc.
Joseph W. Cotchett, Mark D. Eibert, Cotchett Illston & Pitre, Burlingame, CA, Arthur N. Bailey, Bailey Law Office, Jamestown, NY, for A.G. Network, Inc.
Charles H. Critchlow, Coudert Bros., New York City, Roger B. Harris, Julie Ann Swanson, Altheimer & Gray, Chicago, IL, Douglas E. Rosenthal, Amy L. Bess, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, Washington, DC, for Kalium Chemicals, Ltd.
Charles H. Critchlow, Coudert Bros., New York City, Douglas E. Rosenthal, Amy L. Bess, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, Washington, DC, for Kalium Canada, Ltd.
Bradley Grayson Clary, Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, St. Paul, MN, William C. Holmes, Freeborn & Peters, Chicago, IL, for Noranda Minerals Inc.
Carol Alice Peterson, Dorsey & Whitney, Minneapolis, MN, Wayne A. Cross, Erin L. Ringham, Dewey Ballantine, New York City, Mark Crane, Hopkins & Sutter, Chicago, IL, Stephen A. Marshall, Rubin Baum Levin Constant & Friedman, New York City, for Mississippi Chemical Corp.
Carol Alice Peterson, Dorsey & Whitney, Minneapolis, MN, for Eddy Potash, Inc.
Carol Alice Peterson, Dorsey & Whitney, Minneapolis, MN, Wayne A. Cross, New York City, for New Mexico Potash Corp.
Scott Kimrey Goldsmith, Frank Alan Taylor, Popham Haik Schnobrich & Kaufman, Minneapolis, MN, for P.P.G. Canada Ltd., P.P.G. Industries, Inc.
Plaintiffs Neve Brothers, Neve Roses, Inc., and JPM Ranches, Inc. (the "Plaintiffs"), commenced this class action litigation, in California Superior Court, against the Defendants, which are entities engaged in mining, distributing, and selling potash; they allege that the Defendants have conspired to fix and stabilize the price of potash ultimately charged to farmers and other end-users in violation of the California Cartwright Act ("Cartwright Act"), Cal.Bus. & Prof.Code §§ 16720, et seq. (Count I), and the California Unfair Competition Act ("Competition Act"), Cal.Bus. & Prof.Code §§ 17200, et seq. (Count II). The Defendants removed this action to federal court. Before the Court is the Plaintiffs' Motion, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c), to Remand.
On March 29, 1994, the Plaintiffs commenced this action in the Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the City and County of San Francisco. On April 28, 1994, the Defendants, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441, removed the litigation to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California1 ("California Court"). The Notice of Removal asserted that removal was proper under federal diversity jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a), and federal supplemental jurisdiction. Id. § 1367(a). See Notice of Removal, ¶¶ 3, 3.a. On April 29, 1994, the Defendants informed the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ("MDL Panel") that this action had been removed to federal court...
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...by the Eighth Circuit and the other federal courts are far from unanimous in their decisions. See e.g., In re Potash Antitrust Litigation, 866 F.Supp. 406 (D.Minn. 1994) (summary of pro-Zahn and anti-Zahn The controversy centers on the impact of 28 U.S.C. § 1367 concerning supplemental juri......
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