Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C. Announcement -- Court Holds Lessees May Sue Under Antitrust Laws.

WASHINGTON -- The law firm of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C. announces that in a decision released yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge William Walls (N.J.) ruled that persons who leased new Mercedes-Benz vehicles from its New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut area dealers are members of a class action lawsuit which was brought in September 1999 on behalf of all purchasers and lessees of such vehicles in the New York region from February 1, 1992 through August 30, 1999. The lawsuit, In re Mercedes-Benz Antitrust Litigation, alleges that Mercedes-Benz USA and its New York Region dealers engaged in a price-fixing conspiracy in violation of the antitrust laws that inflated the price paid for Mercedes-Benz vehicles in the New York Region during the Class Period.

Defendants had contended that persons who leased, rather than purchased, their new Mercedes-Benz vehicle were not entitled to sue under the federal antitrust laws. "The Court's decision soundly rejected that argument and decided that persons who leased new Mercedes-Benz vehicles are as entitled to sue for the harm done to them as if they had financed the purchase of their vehicle," said R. Joseph Barton of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C., the attorney who argued the motion for plaintiffs. "We believe that this is the first published decision to directly address whether persons who lease, rather than purchase, a product can sue for injury as a result of conduct which violates the federal antitrust laws," Barton said.

The Court previously certified the case as a class action and has preliminarily approved of a settlement on behalf of the class with six of the dealer defendants for $5.1 million. The litigation is proceeding against the remaining dealer defendants, Mercedes-Benz U.S.A. and the accounting firm, Sheft Kahn & Company.