Paul Geller Appointed to Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in Nationwide Liquid Aluminum Sulfate Antitrust Litigation

On April 8, 2016, the Honorable Jose L. Linares of the District of New Jersey issued an order appointing Paul J. Geller to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in an antitrust action alleging a nationwide conspiracy in the liquid aluminum sulfate (“LAS”) market, a water-treatment chemical that is purchased for use by various paper mills and public municipalities across the country. The case involves claims that LAS manufacturers participated in a price-fixing and bid-rigging scheme to inflate and maintain prices between 1997 and 2010. 

In October 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that former General Manager of Water Chemicals and Vice President of Sales and Marketing of General Chemical, Frank A. Reichl, pleaded guilty for his role in a conspiracy to eliminate competition by “fixing prices, rigging bids and allocating customers” for LAS. According to information released by the government, the conspiracy, which lasted nearly 15 years, involved a number of companies agreeing not to disturb each other’s “historical” business, thus cheating municipalities and others out of competitive prices for their supplies of LAS. The multidistrict litigation involves at least 19 lawsuits consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

The recognition for Geller comes just two months after his appointment to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the nationwide Volkswagen emissions cheating lawsuit. “I’m honored to have been selected by Judge Linares to work alongside some of the most respected antitrust and class action attorneys in the country,” commented Geller. “I look forward to working with the rest of the committee to seek redress for the harms caused by the alleged price fixing conspiracy.”

Geller’s 23 years of litigation experience is broad, and he has led cases in each of Robbins Geller’s practice areas. Notably, before devoting his practice to the representation of consumers and investors, he defended companies in high-stakes class action and MDL litigation, providing him an invaluable perspective that he now utilizes in prosecuting such cases. Rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell (the highest rating available) and twice named one of the nation’s top “40 Under 40” by The National Law Journal, he has also been named one of “Florida’s Top Lawyers” by Law & Politics and South Florida Business Journal, one of the nation’s “Top 500 Lawyers” by Lawdragon, one of Florida’s “Legal Elite” by Florida Trend magazine and one of “Florida’s Most Effective Lawyers” by American Law Media’s Daily Business Review.  

Geller will have the support of Robbins Geller’s distinguished antitrust attorneys, including David W. Mitchell and Alexandra S. Bernay.

In re Liquid Aluminum Sulfate Antitrust Litig., No. 2:16-md-02687 (D.N.J.).