ATTORNEY GENERAL: ANTITRUST DIVISION:

An Inventory of Its Litigation Files at the Minnesota Historical Society

Government Records

OVERVIEW


	Creator:	Minnesota. Attorney General. Antitrust Division.
	Title:	Litigation files.
	Dates:	1966-2002.
	Language:	Materials in English.
	Abstract:	Pleadings, correspondence, depositions, clippings, memoranda, and settlement records in antitrust lawsuits pursued by the attorney general.
	Quantity:	7.95 cubic feet (8 boxes and 2 partial boxes).
	Location:	See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

Relating to cases involving brass and copper tube and pipe (1967-1969) and office partitions (1975-1976), and price fixing by major drug companies (1968-1973), national auto manufacturers (1970-1977), retail milk producers (1973-1976), liquid chlorine repackagers (1974-1975), four nationwide manufacturers of master key systems (1974-1978), fine paper manufacturer and sale (1966-1983), and baseball (1992-1002).

Also correspondence and memoranda relating to Minnesota's involvement in a U.S. Justice Department suit against major automobile manufacturers, accusing them of violating the antitrust laws by agreeing to delay development of anti-pollution devices on cars (1969-1974); to the firing of the director of the Minnesota Restitution Center (1974-1977); and an amicus curiae case involving the state's liquor trade (1974-1975).

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Minnesota. Attorney General. Antitrust Division. Litigation Files. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: 983-188; 991-168; 2006-6; 2011-15

Processing Information:

Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Catalog ID number: 001715913

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION


Location
120.G.16.4F	10463-C: State v General Motors Corporation, et al., 1970-1977. 11 folders.
		Class action antitrust suit against auto manufacturers for conspiratorial elimination of the fleet discount on sales of motor vehicles to government entities.
		Class member correspondence.
		General research.
		Master correspondence. 4 folders.
		Master memoranda. 2 folders.
		Newspaper clippings and press release.
		Pleadings. 2 folders.


	105244-C: Burton R. Galaway v Thomas Lawson, et al., 1974-1977. 19 folders.
		Case concerning the firing of the director of the Minnesota Restitution Center (operated by the Corrections Department) for ignoring orders to keep two convicted "fences" out of the center's early parole program; sovereign immunity issue.
		Chronology of events.
		Correspondence.
		Depositions. 5 folders.
		General lawyers' notes.
		Interoffice memos.
Location
120.G.16.5B		Pleadings. 6 folders.
		Press clips.
		Trial transcript. 3 folders.


	74-92-160: State, et al., v Eaton Yale and Towne, Inc., et al., 1974-1978. 10 folders.
		Antitrust action against four nation-wide manufacturers of master key systems commenced by the state and all of its political sub-divisions. Regarding conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers and territories in violation of antitrust laws.
		Deposition: Paul F. Cummings.
		General class member correspondence.
		Master correspondence.
		Master memoranda.
		Newspaper clippings and press releases.
		Special counsel correspondence. 2 folders.
Location
120.G.16.6F		Tabulation of construction projects.
		Transcripts:
			Pretrial conference.
			Hearing.


		74-167-160: Liquor Retailers Amicus Curiae Case, 1974-1975. 5 folders.
			Case in which liquor retailers alleged liquor wholesalers had conspired to monopolize trade and lessen competition during periods of time since 1940s. The state entered the case as amicus curiae to ensure that the settlement did not have an anticompetitive effect on the state's wholesale liquor industry.
			Memoranda.
			Miscellaneous. 3 folders.
			Pleadings.


		State v Chas. Pfizer and Company, et al., 1968-1973. 10 folders.
			Class action suit concerning major drug companies allegedly conspiring to violate federal antitrust laws by fixing prices of certain broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to combat infections.
			Local government general correspondence.
			Minnesota jurisdiction.
			Pleadings.
			Settlement.
			Settlement order.
			Tetracycline settlement: Second stage allocation. 5 folders.


Location
127.E.3.8F	Brass and Copper Tube and Pipe antitrust cases, 1967-1969. 4 folders.
		Pleadings. 3 folders.
		News clippings.


		[File 10134]: Multidistrict vehicle air pollution cases, 1969-1974.
			Correspondence and memoranda relating to Minnesota’s involvement in a suit brought by the U.S. Justice Department against major automobile manufacturers, accusing them of violating the antitrust laws by agreeing to delay development of anti-pollution devices on cars.


Location
127.E.3.7B	File 105189: Minnesota v Sloneker Milk Company, 1973-1976. 6 folders.
		Unlawful fixing of retail prices and territories of distribution for independent retail milk producers in the Twin Cities area.
		File 3, Master correspondence.
		File 4, Master memorandums.
		File 6, Press clippings.
		File 100, Master pleadings file.
		File 125, Deposition [of Thomas R. Muck, December 21, 1973].
		File 200, Slonaker deposition.


		File 105247: Liquid Chlorine Investigation, 1974-1975. 7 folders.
			Antitrust investigation of the pricing of liquid chlorine by repackagers of that product in sales to government agencies in Minnesota.
			Master pleadings.
			Special counsel correspondence.
			Correspondence.
			Depositions of George L. Belair, Douglas Kronbeck, Norman P. Anderson, and Howard Johnson.


Location
127.E.3.8F	File 75-158-160: Minnesota v Modern Partitions, 1975-1976. 7 folders.
		Correspondence, memoranda, pleadings, depositions, newspaper clippings, and settlement records in antitrust action against this Holland, Michigan, manufacturer of office partitions and several of its local dealers, alleging that they had conspired to allocate and divide the Minnesota market for partitions.


Location
133.B.19.2F	Fine paper antitrust litigation case files, 1966-1983.
		The fine paper antitrust litigation began in 1977, with 15 complaints filed in eight separate District Courts against manufacturers of fine paper products. By 1978, the 15 were consolidated and transferred to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania where a federal grand jury was investigating possible antitrust violations in the fine paper industry. Within a year, 23 additional cases were filed and a total of 38 cases were consolidated. The named plaintiffs in the 38 lawsuits were divided into two categories: the Private Plaintiffs, including some Minority States Plaintiffs (including Minnesota), and the state governmental entities known as the Majority States. The Minority States alleged a horizontal conspiracy to fix and raise the process at which fine paper was sold to their customers among 15 named defendants; this involved middlemen and other buyers, such as publishing houses, greeting card companies, printers and commercial and other industrial users. Settlements between the Minority States and the defendants were reached between 1978-1980. The Majority States lost their case in December 1980.
		In addition, fee petitions were filed by 41 private law firms and state attorneys general for approximately $21 million in counsel fees and expenses to come out of the $50,560,000 in settlement proceeds. The Minnesota State Attorney General’s Office was awarded $111,948.41.
		The records reflect Minnesota’s involvement in the State of Minnesota v Boise Cascade Corporation, et al., and in subsequent fee petitions.
		Attorney service list, 1978-1980.
		Correspondence, 1978-1983. 9 folders.
			Great Northern Nekoosa Corporation, 1978.
			Master correspondence files, 1978-1983. 7 folders.
			Wausau Paper Mills, 1979-1980.
		Court orders, 1979-1982. 3 folders.
		Defendants’ divisions, subsidiaries, and affiliates, 1978.
		Deposition notices, 1980.
		Deposition summaries and background information, 1980.
		Discovery, 1979-1980. 2 folders.
		Fee and expense objection pleadings, 1981. 2 folders.
Location
133.B.19.3B		Fee objection pleadings, 1981-1982.
		Fee petition decisions, 1983. 2 folders.
		Fine paper purchases by state governments, 1978-1982.
		Hot documents, 1966-1980.
		Merchant houses doing business in Minnesota, 1978.
		Media coverage, 1978, 1981.
		Petition for an Award of Attorney’s Fees and Costs, Minnesota, 1981.
		Pleadings, 1978-1981. 16 folders.
			1978-1979.
			Master, Nos. 652-700, 1980-1981. 10 folders.
Location
133.B.19.4F			Nekoosa, 1978-1980. 4 folders.
			Wausau, 1978-1980. 2 folders.
		Responses to Corporate Objectors’ Report, 1981-1982. 2 folders.
		Settlement administration, 1980-1981.
		Settlement negotiations, 1978-1979.
		State newsletters, 1978-1979.


	Minnesota Twins Partnership v State of Minnesota litigation files, 1992-2002 (bulk dated 1998-1999).
		Litigation files concerning whether or not the business of professional baseball was exempt from federal and state antitrust laws. Specifically, the case concerned whether or not the Minnesota Attorney General could enforce compliance with civil investigative demands pursuant to an investigation of potential violations of Minnesota’s antitrust laws based on the proposed sale and relocation of the Minnesota Twins baseball team to North Carolina.
		Civil investigative demands, 1997. 2 folders.
			Includes letters of intent, notices, and related records produced by the State of Minnesota and served on the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, the Milwaukee Brewers, the North Carolina Major League Baseball, the American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, Minnesota Twins, Carl R. Pohlad, Major League Baseball, and Allan H. (Bud) Selig.
		Pleadings, 1992, 1998. 3 folders.
			Include summons, complaints, petitions, briefs, supplemental memoranda, appendices, and related records of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Hennepin County District Court.
Location
123.E.13.6F		Pleadings, 1998-1999. 21 folders.
			Include reports, summons, complaints, petitions, briefs, supplemental memoranda, appendices, and related records of the Ramsey County District Court, Minnesota Supreme Court, and the States of Florida, Connecticut, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Northern District of Florida Tallahassee, and the United States Supreme Court.
Location
123.E.13.7B		Pleadings, 1998-1999. 3 folders.
			Include reports, summons, complaints, petitions, briefs, supplemental memoranda, appendices, and related records of the United States Supreme Court, and organized baseball; also referenced materials dating 1952, 1971, and 1984.
		Subject files, 1993-2001. 4 folders and 1 volume.
			Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner, Guidelines and procedures for Control Interest transfers, 1993.
			Basic Agreement between the American League of Professional Baseball Clubs and the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs and the Major League Baseball Players Association, 1997.
			Major League Baseball Players Association' Baseball's Antitrust Exemption Resource Book, The Minnesota Public Advocacy Research Team, 1993.
			Squeeze Play: The Campaign for a New Twins Stadium, The Minnesota Public Advocacy Research Team, 1998.
			Minnesotans for Major League Baseball: Report of the Committee, 2001.


		Correspondence, 1998-2002. 2 folders.
			Correspondence between the Office of the Attorney General, Bill Luther, the Major League Baseball Players Association, the Minnesota Twins Partnership, the Shreffler Law Firm P.A., Dorsey & Whitney LLP, and Senator Paul Wellston regarding baseball's antitrust exemption and the Curt Flood Act of 1997.
			[0.6 cubic feet empty, letter size.]

CATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:: Antitrust law -- Minnesota.; Automobile industry and trade -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.; Automobiles -- Pollution control devices -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.; Baseball -- Minnesota.; Brass.; Chlorine industry -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.; Drugs -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.; Government litigation -- Minnesota.; Liquid chlorine.; Liquor industry -- Minnesota.; Liquor laws -- Minnesota.; Locks and keys -- Minnesota.; Milk trade -- Minnesota.; Office equipment and supplies industry -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.; Paper industry -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.; Pharmaceutical industry -- Minnesota.; Pharmacy -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.; Pipe, Copper.; Pipe industry -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.; Price fixing -- Minnesota.

Organizations:: Minnesota Restitution Center -- Officials and employees -- Dismissal.; Minnesota Twins (Baseball team).; United States. Department of Justice.

Functions:: Litigating.

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ATTORNEY GENERAL: ANTITRUST DIVISION:

OVERVIEW

SCOPE AND CONTENTS

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

CATALOG HEADINGS