AT&T Mobility entered into a settlement with a proposed consumer class that claimed that AT&T had illegally charged its customers state and local taxes for mobile internet access, despite a prohibition on the collection of taxes during the period from November 1, 2003 through November 1, 2014. Judge Amy St. Eve, of the U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois, (Eastern Division) approved a preliminary class settlement in the case in August 2011, after which a number of objectors filed briefs in opposition to the settlement agreement. Compass Lexecon expert, Dr. Elisabeth Landes, testified on behalf of the settling parties at the fairness hearing in March 2011. In her opinion approving the settlement, the Court cited Dr. Landes’s testimony, stating that “Dr. Landes provided a convincing expert opinion” as to the value of the continuing tax savings to the class as a result of AT&T’s no longer collecting the challenged taxes. Compass Lexecon was retained by Bartimus, Frickleton, Robertson & Gorny.

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