On June 30, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the district court’s certification of the approximately seven billion dollar settlement class in the In Re Payment Card Interchange Fee And Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation. The Second Circuit determined that the class of retailers and merchants were inadequately represented in violation of Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(4) and the Due Process Clause.
Nix Patterson represented a broad consortium of large retailers and merchants who chose to opt-out of the now-vacated settlement class and pursue their claims directly against Visa and Mastercard. The claims of NP’s clients have long been resolved in comparison to those retailers and merchants who were waiting for class settlement benefits. Class benefits will now be delayed indefinitely if they are ever to materialize.
The fact the Second Circuit vacated the settlement class creates a new window for companies that were previously bound by the terms and obligations of the settlement class to pursue individual claims directly against Visa and/or MasterCard outside of the class action context. NP continues to represent additional clients beyond its initial consortium, who have significant interchange fee volume and do not believe it is in their best interest to wait on the class litigation to resolve, should it ever. If your, or your client’s, company is interested in litigating its claims directly against Visa and/or Mastercard, please contact NP immediately.
The Visa/Mastercard litigation is being led by NP partners Jeffrey Angelovich and Michael Angelovich.