• Case

  In re Shale Oil/WTI Crude Oil Futures & Derivatives Litigation, No. 25-cv-00447 (D.N.M.)

• Type Commodities
• Status Pending
• KM acts as court-appointed interim co-lead counsel for a putative class of investors who transacted in West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil-based derivatives. The case alleges that several of the largest U.S. shale oil producers conspired to constrain output, directly moving the prices of derivatives tied to WTI crude oil.

• Case M&N Trading, LLC v. BofA Securities, Inc., Merrill Lynch, et al.,
  24-cv-1229 (N.D. Ill.)
• Type Commodities, Antitrust
• Status Pending

• Case In re Credit Default Swaps Auctions Litigation,
  No. 21-cv-00606 (D.N.M.).
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Pending
• KM acts as interim co-lead counsel on behalf of a class led by the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General, the New Mexico State Investment Council, the Public Employees Retirement Association of New Mexico, and the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board. The case alleges that leading credit default swap (CDS) dealers took part in a more than decade-long, multibillion-dollar scheme to manipulate the benchmark prices used to value credit default swap contracts at settlement.

• Case In re North Sea Brent Crude Oil Futures Litigation,
  No. 13-md-02475 (S.D.N.Y.). 
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Pending
• KM acted as the sole court-appointed interim lead counsel on behalf of a putative class of investors alleging manipulation of the Platts Brent Crude Oil benchmark by major oil producers, which harmed traders who transacted in derivatives tied to the benchmark.

• Case Sullivan v. Barclays PLC,
  No. 13-cv-02811 (S.D.N.Y.). 
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Pending
• KM acts as class counsel in this benchmark rate antitrust litigation on behalf of a putative class of investors who traded derivative products linked to Euribor, including futures and options contracts on the NYSE LIFFE exchange. The case has resulted in partial settlements of more than $650 million.

• Case Wacker v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.,
  No. 15-cv-00994 (S.D.N.Y.).  
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Pending
• KM represented individual traders alleging manipulation of silver futures spreads by JP Morgan. KM achieved a landmark appellate decision in this case establishing pleading standards for monopolization claims in futures markets, Wacker v. JP Morgan Chase & Co., 678 F. App’x 27 (2d Cir. 2017). The case preceded a related Department of Justice criminal investigation into JP Morgan that resulted in over $920 million in criminal penalties.

• Case CFTC v. Shak,
  No. 14-cv-01632 (D.D.C.).  
• Type Commodities
• Status Pending
• KM represented a defendant in a case brought by the CFTC under the Commodity Exchange Act for violations of an administrative order related to the gold futures market.

• Case In re Bank of Nova Scotia Spoofing Litigation,
  No. 20-cv-11059 (D.N.J.). 
• Type Commodities
• Status Settled
• KM attorneys served as members of the court-appointed executive committee in this case alleging manipulation of precious metals futures and options by a major bank. The case resulted in a settlement of $6.6 million.

• Case In re Cattle and Beef Antitrust Litigation,
  No. 22-cv-03031 (D. Minn.).
• Type Commodities
• Status Pending
• KM acts as court-appointed executive committee member and class counsel on behalf of a putative class of cattle producers and cattle futures and options traders, alleging that the “Big 4” meatpacking firms conspired to suppress prices for fed cattle and manipulate live cattle futures and options prices. The case has already resulted in a $83.5 million settlement with one of the defendants.

• Case In re Commodity Exchange, Inc., Gold Futures and Options Trading Litigation,
  No. 14-md-02548 (S.D.N.Y.).  
• Type Commodities
• Status Pending
• KM acted as class counsel on behalf of a putative class of investors alleging a scheme by major banks to manipulate the global benchmark price of gold, which harmed traders who transacted in gold futures and options on U.S.-based exchanges. The case resulted in settlements totaling $152 million.

• Case In re Deutsche Bank Spoofing Litigation,
  No. 20-cv-03638 (N.D. Ill.). 
• Type Commodities
• Status Pending
• KM acts as interim co-lead counsel on behalf of a putative class of investors alleging manipulation through “spoofing” of U.S. Treasury futures and Eurodollar futures and options by a major bank.

• Case In re Natwest Treasury Futures Spoofing Litigation,
  No. 22-cv-00479 (N.D. Ill.).
• Type Commodities
• Status Pending
• KM acts as court-appointed interim co-lead counsel on behalf of a putative class of investors alleging manipulation through “spoofing” of U.S. Treasury futures and options by a major bank.

• Case Dennis v. The Andersons, Inc.,
  No. 20-cv-04090 (N.D. Ill.).
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Pending
• KM acts as co-class counsel on behalf of a certified class of exchange-based investors alleging monopolization and manipulation of Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat futures contracts in violation of federal antitrust and commodity exchange laws.

• Case In re JPMorgan Treasury Futures Spoofing Litigation, 
  No. 20-cv-03515 (S.D.N.Y.).
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Settled
• KM acted as court-appointed co-lead counsel on behalf of a putative class of investors alleging that JPMorgan manipulated U.S. Treasury futures and options in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act, 7 U.S.C. §§ 1, et seq. (the “CEA”) and the common law.  The case resulted in a settlement of $15.7 million.

• Case CFTC Whistleblower Award,
  No. 21-WB-07
• Type Antitrust, CFTC Whistleblower, Commodities, False Claims Act, Whistleblower
• Status Settled
• KM represented the whistleblower who received nearly $200 million, the largest CFTC whistleblower award ever and the second largest whistleblower award arising under the Dodd-Frank and IRS whistleblower programs. The information the whistleblower provided catalyzed investigations by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a U.S. federal regulator, and a foreign regulator into the manipulation of crucial financial benchmarks used by global banks as the basis for the pricing of fixed income securities and derivative products.  The CFTC initially rejected the whistleblower’s award application, but KM's advocacy resulted in a successful appeal for the client.

• Case In re Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation, 
  No. 13-cv-07789 (S.D.N.Y.).
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Settled
• KM acted as special fiduciary counsel for exchange-based investors for a putative class of investors alleging that major banks conspired to fix prices in the foreign exchange (FX) market, which harmed traders who transacted in FX futures and options on U.S.-based exchanges. The case resulted in partial settlements of more than $2.3 billion.

• Case In re Crude Oil Commodity Futures Litigation, 
  No. 11-cv-03600 (S.D.N.Y.).  
• Type Commodities
• Status Settled
• KM acted as class counsel on behalf of a putative class of investors alleging manipulation of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures and options. The case resulted in a settlement of $16.5 million.

• Case In re LIBOR-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation,
  No. 11-md-02262 (S.D.N.Y.). 
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Settled
• KM acted as court-appointed co-liaison counsel for all class actions in the multi-district litigation and co-lead counsel for the exchange-based class in the high-profile In re LIBOR-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation and FTC Capital GmbH v. Credit Suisse Group AG, alleging the fixing of prices of a benchmark interest rate. The case resulted in settlements totaling $190.45 million, which combined represent the largest recovery in a “futures-only” commodities class action litigation.

• Case In re BP Propane Indirect Purchaser Antitrust Litigation,
  No. 06-cv-03541 (N.D. Ill.). 
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Settled
• KM acted as court-appointed interim co-lead counsel on behalf of a putative class of propane purchasers alleging that BP manipulated the prices of propane. The case resulted in a $15 million settlement.

• Case In re Reformulated Gasoline (RFG) Antitrust and Patent Litigation and Related Actions,
  No. 05-cv-01671 (C.D. Cal). 
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Settled
• KM acted as court-appointed co-lead class counsel on behalf of a class of retail gas consumers alleging manipulation of the standard-setting process for low-emissions reformulated gasoline in California. The case resulted in a $48 million settlement.

• Case In re Potash Antitrust Litigation,
  No. 08-cv-06910 (N.D. Ill.).  
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Settled
• KM served as a member of the lead counsel structure representing purchasers of potash alleging that the largest potash producers conspired to artificially inflate prices. The case resulted in a $13 million settlement.