Class Action Against AWB Dismissed
March 25, 2008
On March 25, 2008, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted Cravath’s motion to dismiss a consolidated putative class action filed by a group of U.S. wheat farmers against AWB Limited and AWB (U.S.A.) Limited, corporate successors to the Australian Wheat Board. Plaintiffs claimed to have been damaged as a result of alleged unlawful monopolization by AWB of the sale of wheat to Iraq through an alleged bribery and money laundering conspiracy in connection with the U.N.-Iraq Oil-for-Food Programme. Judge Gerard Lynch dismissed plaintiffs’ claims under the Sherman and Clayton Acts for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, their Robinson-Patman Act claim for lack of antitrust standing and their RICO claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
The AWB team includes partners Robert H. Baron and Timothy G. Cameron and associates Daniel P. Roeser, Katherine A. Deringer, Natasha S. Guinan, Michael N. Kennedy and Martin J. Crisp. The case is Boyd v. AWB Limited, et al., No. 1:07-cv-03007-GEL, 2008 WL 793633 (S.D.N.Y., Mar. 25, 2008).
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J.D., 1981, Harvard Law Schoolcum laude
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A.B., 1978, Princeton Universitycum laude
- New York
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LL.M., 1998, University of Chicago Law School
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M.ComLaw, 1997, Auckland University - Faculty of LawFirst Class Honors
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LL.B., 1994, Auckland University - Faculty of Law
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B.Com., 1994, Auckland University - Faculty of Law
- New York
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Deals & Cases
September 24, 2014
AWB Wins Appeal Dismissing Suit over Iraq Oil‑for‑Food Programme
On September 18, 2014, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s decision dismissing an action against AWB Limited, the corporate successor to the Australian Wheat Board, which is now known as Agrium Asia Pacific Limited. The trial court’s decision is one of five dismissals -- and one of seven favorable court decisions -- Cravath obtained for AWB in actions related to the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme since 2008.
Deals & Cases
March 13, 2014
AWB Wins Dismissal of Fifth Suit Over Iraq Oil‑for‑Food Programme
On February 12, 2014, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas granted Cravath’s motion to dismiss with prejudice an action against AWB Limited, the corporate successor to the Australian Wheat Board, which is now known as Agrium Asia Pacific Limited. This is the fifth time Cravath has successfully represented AWB in a suit concerning the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme (the “Programme”). This suit involves claims by a number of U.S. citizens who were allegedly injured in terrorist attacks. Plaintiffs assert that those attacks were funded by Saddam Hussein using illegal kickbacks that he received from participants in the Programme. Although AWB was not named as a defendant in the plaintiffs’ lawsuit, the individuals and entities that were named as defendants brought a third-party complaint against AWB and 61 other entities that also participated in the Programme. The third-party complaint asserts a claim for contribution against AWB and the other third-party defendants in the event the defendants in the underlying action are found liable to plaintiffs for violating the Antiterrorism Act (“ATA”).
