Blecher & Collins, P.C. v. Northwest Airlines, Inc.

ORDER ON CROSS MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

I. Background

In the mid-1980’s, Northwest Airlines, Inc. (“Northwest”), retained the law firm of Blecher & Collins, P.C. (“B & C”), to represent it and several other airlines in an antitrust case against American Airlines (“American”) and United Air Lines (“United”). Northwest’s case did not take off as well as it had hoped, and the relationship between Northwest and B & C disintegrated. B & C now sues for fees. Northwest counterclaims for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and professional negligence.

A. United and American Control the Industry’s Two Largest Computer Reservation Systems.

American and United own and operate SABRE and Apollo, the largest and second largest computerized reservation systems (“CRS”), through which travel agents receive flight information, book flights and print tickets. United and American charge travel agents for using the CRS and also charge the other airlines for displaying their flight information on the CRS screens. Initially, both American and United “biased” their systems, displaying their flight information more prominently than that of other airlines. In re Air Passenger Comp. Res.…