With billions of dollars in potential damages on the line, Winston & Strawn co-chairman Jeffrey Kessler and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton partner Jeremy Calsyn led the fight to defeat class certification in an antitrust suit by direct purchasers of automotive and industrial machinery bearings.

It’s the first decision on class cert in the sprawling Automotive Parts Antitrust Multidistrict Litigation, and is good omen for defendants in other pending cases.