By Megan Leonhardt

Law360, New York (December 08, 2011, 8:37 PM ET) -- If the Ninth Circuit affirms the dismissal of state antitrust claims from multidistrict litigation over an alleged natural gas price-fixing conspiracy, it will hurt Wisconsin's ability to respond to the energy crisis, the state's attorney general said Wednesday.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen petitioned the Ninth Circuit to overturn a Nevada federal judge’s decision nixing state law claims that several natural gas companies had conspired to inflate prices. The district judge had ruled that the claims were preempted by federal energy regulators’ jurisdiction over price-reporting practices....