National Grid / Utility Overpayment & ERISA Pension Underfunding Class Action

In August 2024, a federal judge ruled that Google had illegally maintained a monopoly in the U.S. general search engine and search text advertising markets, finding that the company paid billions of dollars annually to Apple, Samsung, and other device makers to be the default search engine — effectively locking out competitors. Following this landmark DOJ victory, private plaintiffs filed class action antitrust lawsuits in early 2025 on behalf of advertisers who allege they were forced to pay supracompetitive prices for search advertising on Google's platform due to the absence of meaningful competition, and consumers who were denied access to a competitive search market.

The class actions seek treble damages under the Sherman Antitrust Act, claiming that Google's exclusionary default agreements and self-preferencing practices inflated advertising costs that were ultimately passed through to consumers in the form of higher product and service prices. The plaintiffs' cases are closely tied to the DOJ's remedies phase, in which the government is seeking structural remedies — potentially including forced divestiture of Chrome or Android — that could reshape the internet economy. These private suits represent potentially billions of dollars in additional liability beyond any government-imposed penalties and are being closely watched by both the tech industry and antitrust scholars worldwide.