Another Court Holds Daubert Analysis Required When Critical To Class Certification

With a split among the Circuits, no authoritative decision from the Third Circuit, and certiorari already granted by the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue, another district court has concluded that a thorough Daubert analysis is appropriate and necessary at the class certification stage when the expert testimony at issue is critical to the determination of class certification. In re Chocolate Confectionary Antitrust Litig., 08-MDL-1935 (M.D. Pa. Dec. 7, 2012).

In re Chocolate Confectionary Antitrust Litigation is a multidistrict price-fixing antitrust case brought pursuant to Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, as well as various state antitrust and consumer protection statutes. In that case, the Direct Purchasers alleged that Defendants, multi national corporate entities who produce approximately 75 percent of America's chocolate confectionary products, conspired to implement three price increases on chocolate from 2002 through 2007. The Direct Purchasers