Wilson Sonsini clients Hebei Welcome and North China Pharmaceutical Group (NCPG) have prevailed in the U.S. Supreme Court in their defense of long-running price-fixing allegations. The case was brought in 2005 against several Chinese Vitamin C exporters. Eventually, everyone except Hebei and NCPG settled, and a judgment of roughly $150 million was entered against them. The firm was retained after the verdict to handle the appeal and succeeded in getting the judgment reversed outright by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. However, the plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which reversed, ruling that the Second Circuit gave too much deference to the Chinese government’s submissions, which had said that China had required the price-fixing at issue. The case then went back to the Second Circuit, which reversed the judgment again. The plaintiffs again sought review in the Supreme Court, but their petition was denied without dissent on October 3, 2022, bringing the case to a final end.

The Wilson Sonsini team that represented Hebei and NCPG included partners Steffen Johnson, Scott Sher, and Brad Tennis; Senior Of Counsels Jonathan Jacobson and Michael McConnell; counsel Conor Tucker; and associate Daphne Rosehill. Former counsels Daniel Weick and Justin Cohen also played a substantial role in the matter.