A group of major food manufacturers is asking a federal judge in Minnesota to remove Paul Weiss from a lawsuit accusing sugar producers of fixing prices, arguing that the law firm has a serious conflict because it previously sought to represent the companies now challenging the alleged conduct.
Kraft Heinz, Mondelēz Global, Nestlé USA, Hershey and other plaintiffs told the court that they shared sensitive business information with Paul Weiss in 2024 while considering legal action against companies in the sugar industry. At the time, the firm was seeking to represent the manufacturers in the prospective case.
The manufacturers now argue that Paul Weiss should not be allowed to switch sides and defend Domino Sugar owner ASR Group after having access to confidential information about their litigation strategy and pricing data.
In court filings, the plaintiffs asked the judge to require Paul Weiss to explain why it should remain involved in the case. They contend that the firm’s current role creates a conflict of interest and that they never agreed to its representation of ASR.
The dispute has become more complicated because Kraft Heinz remains a client of Paul Weiss. The firm has proposed using a separate legal team to handle ASR’s defense against Kraft Heinz, but the food manufacturers have rejected that solution as impractical.
Paul Weiss has pushed back against the disqualification effort. The firm maintains that there is no conflict because the attorneys currently defending ASR and Domino were not involved in the firm’s earlier discussions with the manufacturers.
The firm’s general counsel, in correspondence with the food companies, previously maintained that representing ASR and Domino did not put the firm in an adverse position toward Kraft Heinz and complied with its professional obligations.
Several of the Paul Weiss lawyers who had previously pursued the manufacturers’ business, including William Isaacson, later departed the firm and established a new practice.
Paul Weiss entered the sugar litigation last year after Djordje Petkoski, who is leading the defense for ASR and Domino, joined the firm from A&O Shearman.
The underlying lawsuit was brought by Mondelēz and other food manufacturers in Minnesota against ASR Group and other sugar companies. The plaintiffs accuse the defendants of engaging in practices that improperly influenced sugar prices. ASR has denied the allegations.
The conflict dispute now places the focus on whether Paul Weiss can continue defending ASR while having previously been involved in efforts to represent companies pursuing the same broader litigation.
The case is Mondelēz Global LLC et al. v. ASR Group International Inc. et al., pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.
