Northern California legal powerhouse Farella Braun + Martel is proud to announce that it has received a 2022 Antitrust Enforcement Award for “Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice” from the American Antitrust Institute (AAI).

Farella lawyers Christopher Wheeler, Karen Kimmey, John Cooper, Janice Reicher, and Alex Reese along with co-counsel at Pillsbury & Coleman, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, Kellogg Hansen Todd Figel & Frederick P.L.L.C., and McCracken Stemerman & Holsberry, LLP are being honored for their role in the landmark antitrust class action against Sutter Health, the dominant hospital system in Northern California, UFCW & Employers Benefit Trust v. Sutter Health et al. Click here for the AAI awards announcement.

“The Sutter case demonstrates how effective a partnership between private plaintiffs and state attorneys general can be in enforcing the antitrust laws,” said Farella partner Christopher Wheeler.

On August 27, 2021, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo granted final approval of the historic $575 million antitrust class action settlement with Sutter Health, one of the largest all-cash settlements in the history of California state court. The settlement includes ten years of comprehensive injunctive relief that limits Sutter’s punitive out-of-network pricing, requires price and quality transparency, enables insurance products that exclude overpriced Sutter providers, permits “steering” to lower-cost, high-quality non-Sutter providers, and provides for a court-appointed monitor to oversee Sutter’s compliance with the settlement.

The case was filed in San Francisco Superior Court in April 2014 by a putative class of self-funded payors (employers, union trusts, and governmental entities who self-insure for healthcare costs). The California Attorney General filed its own action in 2018, and the two actions were consolidated that year. Following five and one-half years of litigation, the parties reached a groundbreaking settlement in October 2019, just minutes before opening statements.

Honorees will be recognized at the AAI Awards Night on November 9.

Celebrating our 60th anniversary, Farella Braun + Martel is a leading Northern California law firm representing corporate and private clients in sophisticated business transactions and complex commercial, civil and criminal litigation. Clients seek our imaginative legal solutions and the dynamism and intellectual creativity of our lawyers. We are headquartered in San Francisco and maintain an office in the Napa Valley that is focused on the wine industry.

Contact:
Cheryl Loof
Farella Braun + Martel LLP
415.954.4433 /  [email protected]