Cheryl M. Kornick, K. Todd Wallace, and Kelly B. Becker of Liskow & Lewis have secured dismissal of antitrust price fixing and monopolization claims filed by the owner of several gasoline stations against Motiva Enterprises, LLP and several other oil and gas entities.  In an April 15, 2009 written decision, the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal exonerated Motiva ruling that the plaintiff's claims that it had engaged in a conspiracy to fix prices for branded gas and to monopolize a branded gasoline market were insufficient to state a cause of action as such claims were based on conclusory allegations without sufficient facts to support either claim.  The Fourth Circuit, in reversing the trial court's denial of Motiva's exception of no cause of action, also confirmed that such antitrust allegations may not be based on parallel conduct alone, relying on the 2007 United State Supreme Court decision in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007).  The Fourth Circuit's decision marks the first occasion where a Louisiana court has relied upon the Twombly standard in evaluating the sufficiency of an antitrust plaintiff's claims.