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On July 2, 2008, United Health Group announced that it has reached a tentative agreement to settle a federal securities class action lawsuit relating to its historical stock options practices.  The $895 million settlement is the largest settlement of any stock option backdating securities class action to date. …
Read More United Health Group Announces $895 Million Securities Class Action Settlement

On July 1, 2008, the Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled that the public nuisance suit filed by the state’s attorney general against various former lead pigment manufacturers, that resulted in a jury verdict against the manufacturers, should have been dismissed by the trial justice. …
Read More Rhode Island Supreme Court Rejects Public Nuisance Theory For Lead Paint Poisoning

According to press reports, Tammy Andreycak, a former director of accounting at Le-Nature’s Inc., recently pleaded guilty to multiple fraud charges in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The charges included bank fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy and filing false income-tax returns, all allegedly taking place between 2003 and 2006. 

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Read More Financial Executive Becomes First Le-Nature’s Employee to Face Criminal Prosecution for Fraud

Dickie Scruggs, the Mississippi lawyer who represented thousands of policyholders in their Hurricane Katrina coverage litigation against property insurers, was recently sentenced to five years in prison for conspiring to bribe a judge in a Hurricane Katrina case.  In addition, Scruggs was ordered to pay a fine of $250,000. …
Read More Dickie Scruggs Sentenced to Five Years in Prison

The Florida Supreme Court recently granted rehearing and issued a revised opinion in Auto-Owners Ins. Co. v. Pozzi Window Co., No. SC06-779 (Fla. June 12, 2008), six months after issuing its original opinion. …
Read More Florida Supreme Court Issues Revised Opinion In Pozzi: Claim For Repair Or Replacement Of Window That Was Defective Before Installation Is Not Covered By Standard CGL Policy

Several news sources recently reported that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New York’s Eastern District is conducting a criminal investigation into whether two former Credit Suisse brokers lied to investors in auction rate securities (“ARS”) about the nature of those securities.  The probe into the two Credit Suisse brokers is the first known criminal matter stemming from the troubled ARS market. …
Read More Federal Prosecutors Probe Two Credit Suisse Brokers Regarding Auction Rate Securities

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently held that an order denying a party’s motion to dismiss an application for a preliminary injunction was not an immediately appealable decision under the “final order rule,” on the grounds that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear it. 

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Read More Arbitration: Second Circuit Finds That Order Denying Motion to Dismiss Is Not Appealable

In the latest adverse development in  the deepening credit crisis, federal regulators recently seized the assets of IndyMac Bank, a major mortgage lender.   IndyMac held $32.01 billion in assets as of March 31, 2008.  The Office of Thrift Supervision said it transferred IndyMac’s operations to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation because it no longer had confidence that IndyMac could meet its depositors’ demands. 

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Read More Government Shuts Down Mortgage Lender IndyMac: FDIC Takes Over Operations

On July 8, 2008, the SEC announced the results of its investigation of the three major rating agencies, Fitch Ratings Ltd., Moody’s Investor Services Inc. and Standard & Poor’s.  The investigation uncovered “significant weaknesses in ratings practices.” …
Read More SEC Ratings Agency Investigation Finds Serious Problems and Proposes Some Rule Changes