Judge backs £371m settlement of auction lawsuit
A New York judge has given tentative approval to a £371m settlement of lawsuits over price-fixing allegations at Sotheby's and Christie's auction houses.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan asked for some changes before he grants final approval but gave lawyers only a week to resolve the concerns.
He concluded that plaintiffs at a trial "would be very likely" to prove that the auction houses conspired to rip off customers selling items at auctions.
"In all the circumstances, the aggregate amount of this settlement is well within the range of fairness," Judge Kaplan wrote in a 45-page analysis of the deal for damages that will be shared equally by each auction house.
The judge noted that Sotheby's and former chief executive Diana Brooks had pleaded guilty to fixing the commission prices and fees of sellers with rival Christie's auction house from 1993 to 2000. She is awaiting sentencing.
Sotheby's will pay a £31m fine while Christie's co-operated early with the Justice Department and escaped criminal prosecution.
The judge said it was possible that a trial might result in as much as £593m in damages, but the most the plaintiffs could count on would be in a range of £78m to £176m.
