08/01/2023 Update:

TRIAL DATE SET FOR SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

On July 28, 2023, the Court held a status conference to address class certification, among other issues. The Court set a date of September 20, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. for jury selection for a trial estimated to be three weeks in length.



07/07/2023 Update:

FEDERAL COURT DECISION ALLOWS DEALERSHIP CLASS CLAIMS TO PROCEED AGAINST CDK

On June 29, 2023, Chief Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer of the Northern District of Illinois denied defendant CDK Global, LLC’s (“CDK”) summary judgment motion to dismiss all claims brought by a nationwide class of car dealerships (“Dealership Plaintiffs” or “Dealerships”). The case, which was originally filed in 2018, has seen extensive fact discovery (including over 80 depositions and document/interrogatory exchanges), expert discovery and substantial motion practice. Dealership Plaintiffs accuse defendants CDK and The Reynolds and Reynolds Company (“Reynolds”)1 of anticompetitive conduct in the market for “dealership management system” software (“DMS”) and a related submarket for “data integration.” The Court’s ruling will allow the Dealership Plaintiffs to proceed to class certification and to seek a date for a trial in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois before Chief Judge Pallmeyer.

Pursuant to the Court’s Memorandum Opinion and Order (“Opinion”) (ECF No. 1381), Dealership Plaintiffs’ claims that may go forward include:

  • Sherman Act § 1 horizontal conspiracy claim for injunctive relief;2
  • Consumer Protection Claims on behalf of the Dealerships in the following states:
    Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Wisconsin;3 and
  • State Antitrust Claims on behalf of the Dealerships in the following states:
    Arizona, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia.4

In addition, the Court extended the class period to include two additional years, currently from 2013 to 2018, and did not eliminate the possibility that the Dealerships may seek certification of a nationwide class of car dealerships certified under Illinois law.

The aforementioned consumer and antitrust claims covering 26 states form the basis for a damages calculation by Dealerships’ expert, Dr. Michael Williams, who will be calculating aggregate damages to the Dealership Class in the coming months. The Opinion (at 80-82) sets forth an explanation of Dealership’s global damages model. Though a total damages figure for the entire class is not addressed in the Opinion, Dr. Williams will provide an estimated damages model that will consists of the damages for all Dealerships in the 26 states listed above who purchased DMS services from CDK or Reynolds from 2013-2018.5


FEDERAL COURT DECISION GRANTS DEALERSHIP CLASS SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION ON CDK’S COUNTERCLAIMS AGAINST NAMED PLAINTIFF DEALERSHIPS

Also on June 29, 2023, the Court granted Dealerships’ motion for summary judgment on CDK’s counterclaims in its entirety. See Memorandum Opinion and Order (ECF No. 1382). In dismissing CDK’s counterclaims, the Court found that CDK failed to demonstrate that any of the named Dealership Plaintiffs breached their contracts with CDK by allowing independent data integrators to access CDK’s DMS without authorization. In addition, CDK failed to establish any damages in spite of retaining a damages expert for damages calculations regarding other claims in the litigation. Though CDK also attempted to seek injunctive relief, the Court again found that CDK did not sufficiently link the alleged irreparable harm it claimed with the conduct it sought to enjoin.

The Court further held that CDK failed to set forth evidence to demonstrate that two named plaintiff dealerships had violated the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). Though CDK alleged that two named plaintiffs circumvented technological controls that it implemented to prevent unauthorized third party DMS access, the Court held there was no evidence to support such a claim. The Court concluded that CDK’s inability to proffer evidence assigning particular alleged DMCA violations to particular dealerships was fatal to its counterclaim. With this finding, the Court found no need to determine additional deficiencies of CDK’s counterclaim but noted that it had concerns about many additional elements of CDK’s DMCA counterclaim.

With this clear and concise ruling, all counterclaims against named Dealership Plaintiffs are completely dismissed.

Please contact Dealership Class Counsel with any questions:

Peggy J. Wedgworth
Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC
100 Garden City Plaza
Suite 500
Garden City, NY 11530
phoneIcon Tel: 1-646-515-1269
emailIcon pwedgworth@milberg.com
Leonard A. Bellavia
Bellavia Blatt, PC
200 Old Country Road
Suite 400
Mineola, NY 11501
phoneIcon Tel: 1-516-873-3000
emailIcon lbellavia@dealerlaw.com

1The Dealership Class settled with Reynolds in 2019 for $29.5 million. The funds remain in escrow to be distributed to the Dealership Class at the conclusion of the litigation against the remaining defendant, CDK. Additional information concerning the Reynolds settlement and current litigation may be found on this website.

2Opinion at 67.

3Id. at 79-84.

4Id. at 84-96.

5The Opinion also addresses claims brought by a vendor class, represented by AutoLoop, and an additional plaintiff, MVSC.

THERE IS NO CLAIMS PROCESS AT THIS TIME. CLAIM FORMS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED AND PROCESSED ONCE THIS LAWSUIT IS CONCLUDED AGAINST CDK. If you have not already done so, please register here to receive notification when the claims process begins. Alternatively, if a November 2018 Notice of the Reynolds Settlement was sent to you by mail, when it becomes available, a claim form will be sent to you at that address. If the address at which you received the November Notice is no longer current, please update your address on the registration site.

NO ASSISTANCE FROM A CLAIMS RECOVERY SERVICE IS NECESSARY in order to participate in the Reynolds Settlement, or any potential future settlement in this case. Such assistance from a claims recovery service is unnecessary to receive a payment or maximize your recovery. When claim forms become available once the lawsuit is concluded against CDK, claims filing assistance will be available from Dealership Class Counsel and the Settlement Administrator at no cost to you.



07/19/2021 Update:

REYNOLDS SETTLEMENT UPDATE AND CURRENT STATUS OF LITIGATION AGAINST CDK ON BEHALF OF ALL DEALERSHIPS WHO CURRENTLY USE DMS PROVIDED BY REYNOLDS OR CDK, OR HAVE USED IT AT ANY POINT BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 2013

No action from dealers is currently needed as the litigation continues against CDK. The Reynolds Settlement funds are in escrow and will not be distributed until resolution of dealers’ claims against CDK.

The current status of the litigation: numerous motions await determination from the Court. Fact discovery ended in April 2020, and all parties exchanged expert reports and filed Daubert motions (to exclude an expert’s testimony who does not possess the requisite level of expertise or used questionable methods to obtain data). Summary judgment briefing concluded in September 2020, and hearings were held in February and May of 2021. The Court indicated that decisions on the Daubert and summary judgment motions would likely be rendered in the next few months. No trial date has been set by the Court.

Please contact Dealership Class Counsel with any questions:

Peggy J. Wedgworth
Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC
100 Garden City Plaza
Suite 500
Garden City, NY 11530
phoneIcon Tel: 1-646-515-1269
emailIcon pwedgworth@milberg.com
Leonard A. Bellavia
Bellavia Blatt, PC
200 Old Country Road
Suite 400
Mineola, NY 11501
phoneIcon Tel: 1-516-873-3000
emailIcon lbellavia@dealerlaw.com

THERE IS NO CLAIMS PROCESS AT THIS TIME. CLAIM FORMS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED AND PROCESSED ONCE THIS LAWSUIT IS CONCLUDED AGAINST CDK. If you have not already done so, please register here to receive notification when the claims process begins. Alternatively, if a November 2018 Notice of the Reynolds Settlement was sent to you by mail, when it becomes available, a claim form will be sent to you at that address. If the address at which you received the November Notice is no longer current, please update your address on the registration site.

NO ASSISTANCE FROM A CLAIMS RECOVERY SERVICE IS NECESSARY in order to participate in the Reynolds Settlement, or any potential future settlement in this case. Such assistance from a claims recovery service is unnecessary to receive a payment or maximize your recovery. When claim forms become available once the lawsuit is concluded against CDK, claims filing assistance will be available from Dealership Class Counsel and the Settlement Administrator at no cost to you.



11/3/2020 Update:

REYNOLDS SETTLEMENT UPDATE AND CURRENT STATUS OF LITIGATION AGAINST CDK ON BEHALF OF ALL DEALERSHIPS WHO CURRENTLY USE DMS PROVIDED BY REYNOLDS OR CDK, OR HAVE USED IT AT ANY POINT BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 2013

No action from dealers is currently needed as the litigation continues against CDK. The Reynolds Settlement funds are in escrow and will not be distributed until resolution of dealers’ claims against CDK.

The current status of the litigation: numerous motions await determination from the Court. Fact discovery ended in April 2020, and all parties exchanged expert reports and filed Daubert motions (to exclude an expert’s testimony who does not possess the requisite level of expertise or used questionable methods to obtain data). Summary judgment briefing concluded in September 2020. The parties are now awaiting a decision from the Court on the Daubert and summary judgment motions. No trial date has been set by the Court.

Please contact Dealership Class Counsel with any questions:

Peggy J. Wedgworth
Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC
100 Garden City Plaza
Suite 500
Garden City, NY 11530
phoneIcon Tel: 1-646-515-1269
emailIcon pwedgworth@milberg.com
Leonard A. Bellavia
Bellavia Blatt, PC
200 Old Country Road
Suite 400
Mineola, NY 11501
phoneIcon Tel: 1-516-873-3000
emailIcon lbellavia@dealerlaw.com

THERE IS NO CLAIMS PROCESS AT THIS TIME. CLAIM FORMS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED AND PROCESSED ONCE THIS LAWSUIT IS CONCLUDED AGAINST CDK. If you have not already done so, please register here to receive notification when the claims process begins. Alternatively, if a November 2018 Notice of the Reynolds Settlement was sent to you by mail, when it becomes available, a claim form will be sent to you at that address. If the address at which you received the November Notice is no longer current, please update your address on the registration site.

NO ASSISTANCE FROM A CLAIMS RECOVERY SERVICE IS NECESSARY in order to participate in the Reynolds Settlement, or any potential future settlement in this case. Such assistance from a claims recovery service is unnecessary to receive a payment or maximize your recovery. When claim forms become available once the lawsuit is concluded against CDK, claims filing assistance will be available from Dealership Class Counsel and the Settlement Administrator at no cost to you.



9/9/2019 Update:

REYNOLDS SETTLEMENT UPDATE

There is no need for any action to be taken by any dealership at this time.

No assistance from a claims recovery service is necessary in order to participate in the Reynolds settlement, or any potential future settlement in this case. Such assistance from a claims recovery service is unnecessary to receive a payment or maximize your recovery. When claim forms become available once the lawsuit is concluded against CDK, claims filing assistance will be available from Dealership Class Counsel and the Settlement Administrator at no cost to you.

There is no claims process at this time. Claim forms will be distributed and processed once this lawsuit is concluded against CDK. If you have not already done so, please register here to receive notification when the claims process begins. Alternatively, if a November 2018 notice of the Reynolds settlement was sent to you by mail, when it becomes available, a claim form will be sent to you at that address. If the address at which you received the November notice is no longer current, please update your address on the registration site.


CURRENT STATUS OF LITIGATION AGAINST CDK ON BEHALF OF ALL DEALERSHIPS WHO CURRENTLY USE DMS PROVIDED BY REYNOLDS OR CDK, OR HAVE USED IT AT ANY POINT FROM SEPTEMBER 2013

We continue to pursue the case against CDK. As the litigation against CDK continues, no action from dealers is needed. The fact discovery phase of the case has concluded (including over 80 depositions and document/interrogatory exchanges), and we are currently in the expert discovery phase of the case. The parties exchanged initial expert reports on August 26, and additional expert reports are expected to be served in late October and November. The case will continue with motion practice through May of 2020.

As reported in the press, a different case within this multidistrict litigation, Cox Automotive Inc. et al. v. CDK Global, was recently resolved and the terms of that settlement remain confidential. This settlement means that Cox Automotive is no longer a plaintiff in this multidistrict litigation.

Please contact Dealership Class Counsel with any questions:

Peggy J. Wedgworth
Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC
100 Garden City Plaza
Suite 500
Garden City, NY 11530
phoneIcon Tel: 1-646-515-1269
emailIcon pwedgworth@milberg.com
Leonard A. Bellavia
Bellavia Blatt, PC
200 Old Country Road
Suite 400
Mineola, NY 11501
phoneIcon Tel: 1-516-873-3000
emailIcon lbellavia@dealerlaw.com


If you are a U.S.-based retail auto dealership that bought a Reynolds or CDK Dealer Management System (DMS) from January 1, 2015 through October 23, 2018, you could benefit from a class action settlement.


There is a proposed class action Settlement with The Reynolds and Reynolds Company (“Reynolds”) involving an alleged conspiracy by CDK Global, LLC (“CDK”) and Reynolds to charge unlawful prices in the markets for Dealer Management System (“DMS”) software services and Data Integration Services. Reynolds denies any wrongdoing and the Court has not ruled that Reynolds did anything wrong or violated any law.

The Settlement with Reynolds is detailed in the Settlement Agreement between the Dealership Class and Reynolds (the “Agreement”), dated October 23, 2018. All terms used in the Notice have the same meanings as set forth in the Agreement.

The Dealership Class Action will continue against CDK.

There is no claims process at this time. Claim forms will be distributed and processed once this lawsuit is concluded against all the Defendants, subject to an allocation plan approved by the Court, upon further notice to the Dealership Class.

Dealership Class Counsel and MDL Liaison Counsel are seeking up to $3 million from the Settlement Fund for litigation expenses (including expert fees, deposition costs and other expenses). They are not seeking attorneys’ fees at this time, but will seek a fee at a later date. Any applications for reimbursement of litigation expenses above $3 million, for attorneys’ fees, or for service awards to the Dealership Class Plaintiffs will be made upon further notice to the Dealership Class. Any fee request will not exceed one-third of the amounts ultimately recovered on behalf of the Dealership Class.

If you are in the business of the retail sale of automobiles in the United States and purchased DMS from CDK and/or Reynolds (or any predecessor, successor, subsidiary, joint venture, or affiliate) during the period from January 1, 2015 through October 23, 2018, you may be entitled to money back as part of the Settlement.

If you have any questions about the lawsuit or notice, you may contact: Peggy J. Wedgworth, Milberg Tadler Phillips Grossman LLP, 100 Garden City Plaza, Suite 500, Garden City, NY 11530, Tel: (212) 594-5300, pwedgworth@milberg.com; or Leonard A. Bellavia, Bellavia Blatt, PC, 200 Old Country Road, Suite 400, Mineola, NY 11501, Tel: (516) 873-3000, lbellavia@dealerlaw.com.

This is the official website for the In re Dealer Management Systems Antitrust Litigation Dealership Class Settlement with Reynolds. Do not rely on other websites purporting to have information regarding this litigation.