Automotive Parts

Automotive Parts is one of the largest antitrust MDLs ever centralized, consolidating dozens of separate component-level conspiracies — spanning wire harnesses, bearings, spark plugs, and many other auto parts — in which suppliers allegedly coordinated pricing and bid-rigging sold into the supply chains of major automakers. Centralized in the Eastern District of Michigan in 2012, the docket has narrowed considerably over more than a decade of litigation and now carries 16 pending actions, reflecting a matter well into its later stages where most component tracks have already resolved through settlement.

For a funder, the remaining actions in a docket this mature tend to be the harder-fought holdouts: component conspiracies where liability, class definition, or damages proved more contested than the tracks that settled earlier, or claims brought by plaintiffs who opted out of earlier settlement classes. That means diligence has to be component-specific rather than applied across the docket as a whole — a wire-harness claim and a bearings claim sitting in the same MDL can have very different risk profiles depending on how far each track's underlying conspiracy evidence and settlement history has progressed.

For a law firm holding a portfolio of dealer or end-purchaser claims tied to specific remaining component tracks, inventory finance under Criterica Capital's commercial litigation finance product can work well once the specific component conspiracy and its settlement posture are identified. Portfolio structures that lump together claims across multiple unresolved component tracks require more granular underwriting than a single-conspiracy docket would. A structure and litigation brief detailing which component tracks remain active is also available.

Pre-settlement funding is a non-recourse purchase of a portion of the proceeds of a pending legal claim — not a loan. If the case does not result in a recovery, nothing is owed. Rates, fees, and repayment terms are disclosed in full in the funding agreement, which the applicant’s attorney reviews before signing. Availability and terms vary by state.