Cases & Deals

Allied Waste obtains defense verdict after trial in antitrust suit by independent waste hauler

Client(s) Allied Waste Industries

Jones Day obtained a complete defense verdict for Allied Waste Industries during a three-week antitrust trial in Boston. The 12 jurors unanimously found that Allied Waste and its codefendant did not violate the Sherman Act or related state laws.

Plaintiff had alleged that Allied Waste, one of the two largest waste handling companies in the country, had conspired with the largest waste disposal operator in Massachusetts to drive independent haulers from the market through a series of horizontal and vertical arrangements. Jones Day lawyers were able to present an effective combination of defense witnesses, third-party haulers, expert testimony, and documentary evidence to demonstrate that the horizontal allegations were false and that the vertical arrangements, including most favored nations provisions, were not anticompetitive under a rule of reason analysis.

National Recycling, Inc., v. Waste Management, Inc., et al., No. 03-12174-NMG (D. Mass.)