Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 90 Part 1.djvu/1445

 PUBLIC LAW 94-435—SEPT. 30, 1976 "(2) Any person on whose behalf an action is brought under subsection (a)(1) may elect to exclude from adjudication the portion of the State claim for monetary relief attributable to him by filing notice of such election with the court within such time as specified in the notice given pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection. "(3) The final judgment in an action under subsection (a)(1) shall be res judicata as to any claim under section 4 of this Act by any person on behalf of whom such action was brought and who fails to give such notice within the period specified in the notice given pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection. "(c) An action under subsection (a)(1) shall not be dismissed or compromised without the approval of the court, and notice of any proposed dismissal or compromise shall be given in such manner as the court directs. "(d) I n any action under subsection (a)— "(1) the amount of the plaintiffs' attorney's fee, if any, shall be determined by the court; and "(2) the court may, in its discretion, award a reasonable attorney's fee to a prevailing defendant upon a finding that the State attorney general has acted in bad faith, vexatiously, wantonly, or for oppressive reasons.

90 STAT. 1395 Monetary relief, exclusion, ^ Final judgment,

Dismissal or compromise of action, notice. Attorneys' fees.

" M E A S U R E M E N T OF DAMAGES

"SEC. 4 D. In any action under section 4 C (a)(l), in which there 15 USC 15d. has been a determination that a defendant agreed to fix prices in violation of the Sherman Act, damages may be proved and assessed 15 USC 1-7. in the aggregate by statistical or sampling methods, by the computation of illegal overcharges, or by such other reasonable system of estimating aggregate damages as the court in its discretion may permit without the necessity of separately proving the individual claim of, or amount of damage to, persons on whose behalf the suit was brought. DISTRIBUTION OF DAMAGES

"SEC. 4 E, Monetary relief recovered in an action under section 15 USC 15e. 4C (a)(1) shall— "(1) be distributed in such manner as the district court in its discretion may authorize; or "(2) be deemed a civil penalty by the cx)urt and deposited with the State as general revenues; subject in either case to the requirement that any distribution procedure adopted afford each person a reasonable opportunity to secure his appropriate portion of the net monetary relief. "ACTIONS BY ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES

"SEC. 4 F. (a) Whenever the Attorney General of the United States has brought an action under the antitrust laws, and he has reason to believe that any State attorney general would be entitled to bring an action under this Act based substantially on the same alleged violation of the antitrust laws, he shall promptly give written notification thereof to such State attorney general. "(b) To assist a State attorney general in evaluating the notice or in bringing any action under this Act, the Attorney General of the United States shall, upon request by such State attorney general, make

Notification, 15 USC 15f.

Investigative fi^^S' availability.

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