A jury in Brooklyn found that two Chinese manufacturers of Vitamin C conspired to fix prices. The defendants, the first Chinese companies to face civil price-fixing claims on U.S. soil, tried to escape liability by arguing that they simply followed orders from their government.

This billion-dollar recovery for indirect purchasers of LCD panels, if approved by San Francisco U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, will likely lead to some big fees for the plaintiffs lawyers. In a separate case brought by different counsel on behalf of direct purchasers, Illston approved a 30 percent fee, for a total of $121 million.

A federal judge in Brooklyn agreed Thursday to certify classes of direct and indirect purchasers in a set of suits accusing four Chinese manufacturers of joining a cartel to fix prices for vitamin C. The litigation has drawn a rare U.S. court appearance by the Chinese government, which hired Sidley Austin to back the companies' defense.

A consolidated antitrust class action against four Chinese vitamin C makers case got smaller--but no less interesting--when one of the defendants agreed to a $10.5 million settlement. "This is the first shoe to drop in a Chinese cartel case, and it's a $10 million shoe," said William Isaacson of Boies Schiller, co-lead counsel for the direct purchaser class.