Legal News

UC and Coughlin make new year a little happier for former Enron investors

By Richard Binder

Seven years after joining the federal class-action lawsuit against Enron Corporation in December 2001, the University of California will now begin distributing settlement funds of approximately $7 billion to nearly 200,000 investors, both individual and institutional. The suit marks the largest ever settlement of securities in class-action lawsuits with the university serving as lead plaintiff in the case, appointed by the United States District Court in February 2002.

As lead plaintiff, the university was responsible for managing and overseeing the litigation process and working with other investors in pursuing the case. The law firm Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman and Robbins LLP represented the university.

The lawsuit alleged that between Oct. 19, 1998, and Nov. 27, 2001, investors who purchased Enron securities were defrauded by way of false financial statements that deceitfully inflated the  price of Enron stock. It was during this period that the defendants ? among them Enron?s accountants, bankers, senior executives and lawyers ? were able to carry out illegal insider trading of up to $1.1 billion.

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Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on January 05, 2009 (boomark / email).