JP Morgan & Co., Inc. v. Superior Court

The trial court certified this Cartwright Act case as a class action involving class members who are residents of 18 different states. (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 16700 et seq.) The moving party plaintiff was Heliotrope General, Inc. (Heliotrope or plaintiff), a large-scale copper purchaser. Both this action and a companion action (National Metals, Inc. v. Sumitomo et al. (D041783, app. pending) (the companion action)) were brought by such copper purchasers against numerous defendants (as pertinent here, defendants and petitioners herein J. P. Morgan & Co., Incorporated et al. (J. P. Morgan).) Plaintiff’s theory is that these defendants have manipulated the price of copper on the London Metals Exchange (LME) and on the American copper futures exchange, COMEX, through combinations in restraint of trade in violation of the Cartwright Act and through conspiracies to do so, to the detriment of copper purchasers in their private transactions on the physical or cash copper markets, as represented by the putative class representatives.

Petitioners J. P. Morgan contend the trial court made an incomplete and erroneous analysis of the factors relevant to certification. We agree and…