In Re Coordinated Pretrial Proceedings in Petroleum Products Antitrust Litigation State of California v. Standard Oil Company of California

These interlocutory appeals are before us under 28 U.S.C. § 1292 (b). They arise from a group of antitrust actions brought against sixteen oil companies by the states of Arizona, California, Florida, Oregon, and Washington. The complaints, which are similar in all material respects, allege violations of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1 & 2. The portions of the complaints material to these appeals allege that the defendant oil companies combined and conspired to raise or stabilize the prices of refined petroleum products.

The cases were filed at various times between July 1973 and February 1977. In August 1976, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred the then-pending cases to the Central District of California for coordinated pretrial proceedings. In re Petroleum Products Antitrust Litigation, 419 F.Supp. 712 (Jud.Pan.Mult.Lit.1976). Subsequent cases were filed directly in the Central District.

The plaintiff States sue in their proprietary capacity and on behalf of their citizens as parens patriae pursuant to section 4C of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 15c. They also seek to represent classes of government entities and a consumer sub-class consisting of natural…