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_______________
Copyright (c) 2001
Stanford Law School


Avant! Corporation
Conclusion: According to the firm's 10-Q filing dated 8/14/2001, on December 15, 1995, Paul Margetis and Helen Margetis filed a securities fraud class action complaint against the Company in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. This lawsuit alleged securities laws violations, including omissions and/or misrepresentations of material facts related to the events and transactions which are the subject of the claims contained in Cadence's civil lawsuit against the Company. In addition, on May 30, 1997, Joanne Hoffman filed a securities fraud class action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of purchasers of the Company's stock between March 29, 1996 and April 11, 1997, the date of the filing of a criminal complaint against the Company and six of its employees and/or directors. The plaintiffs alleged that the Company and its officers misled the market as to the likelihood of the criminal indictment and as to the validity of the Cadence allegations. The District Court subsequently certified these two securities class actions, consolidated them for pretrial purposes, and stayed most discovery and other proceedings pending resolution of the criminal proceeding described above. In March 2001, the Company reached agreement with counsel for the plaintiff classes in both securities actions for a voluntary resolution of the cases. Under that agreement, the Company paid a total of $47.5 million in exchange for dismissal of the actions and a release of claims by members of the classes. The District Court entered an order on June 21, 2001, that gave final approval to the settlement and dismissed the litigation with prejudice. The Company paid the full settlement amount of $47.5 million in April 2001. In accordance with SFAS No. 5 “Accounting for Contingencies”, the Company recognized the settlement as an expense in the fourth quarter of 2000.

According to a Press Release dated December 24, 1997, the complaint in the action charges that, during the Class Period, Avant! and certain of its senior officers violated Sections 10(b) and 20 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Sections 11, 12(2) and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 by making materially misleading and fraudulent statements about, and failing to disclose material adverse information about, defendants' wrongful use of proprietary software technology stolen from Avant!'s primary competitor, Cadence Design Systems Inc. During the Class Period, Avant! vehemently denied that it had done anything wrong, denigrated the civil action filed against it by Cadence as a desperate act of 'corporate terrorism' by a competitor that is 'running scared,' repeatedly assured investors of Avant!'s position that the claims had no merit and would not have a material adverse impact on Avant!'s financial position, and affirmatively represented that its products did not infringe the proprietary rights of others. On April 11, 1997, the Santa Clara County district attorney's office filed a criminal felony action against Avant! and members of its senior management charging them with theft of trade secrets and conspiracy. The price of Avant!'s stock dropped over 50% in the wake of the criminal complaint.

INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION:
SIC Code:  7372
Sector:  Technology
Industry: Software & Programming


COMPANY/ISSUER NAME: Avant! Corporation
COMPANY/ISSUER TICKER: AVNT
COMPANY WEBSITE: http://www.avanticorp.com

FIRST IDENTIFIED COMPLAINT IN THE DATABASE
Hoffman v. Avant! Corporation
 COURT: N.D. California  DOCKET NUMBER: 97-CV-20698
 JUDGE NAME: Ronald M. Whyte
 DATE FILED: 05/30/1997  SOURCE: Business Wires
 CLASS PERIOD START: 03/29/1996  CLASS PERIOD END: 04/11/1997
 TYPE OF COMPLAINT: Unamended/Unconsolidated
 PLAINTIFF FIRMS IN THIS OR SIMILAR CASE:
  • Berger & Montague, P.C.
       1622 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103
       (voice) 800.424.6690, (fax) 215.875.4604, investorprotect@bm.net
  • Gold Bennett Cera & Sidener LLP
       595 Market Street, Suite 2300, San Francisco, CA, 94105-2835sco
       (voice) 800.778.1822, (fax) 415.777.5189, info@gbcsf.com
    _____________________________________________
     TOTAL NUMBER OF PLAINTIFF FIRMS:  2

  •  DOCUMENTS FOR THE FIRST IDENTIFIED COMPLAINT
    U.S. District Court Civil Docket
    Type: Docket Date on the document: 01/21/1999
    Class Action Complaint for Violation of the Federal Securities Laws
    Type: Complaint Date on the document: 05/30/1997
    Notice of Motion & Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion of Joanne Hoffman for Appt. as Lead Plaintiff & for Appt. of Plaintiff Hoffman's Counsel as Lead Counsel
    Type: Notice Date on the document: 08/08/1997
    Declaration of Solomon B. Cera
    Type: Declaration Date on the document: 07/28/1997
    Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Motion to Dismiss Complaint
    Type: Other Date on the document: 07/29/1997
    Request to Take Judicial Notice in Connection with Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Securities Fraud Complaint
    Type: Other Date on the document: 07/28/1997
    Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Opposition to Motion of Plaintiff Joanne Hoffman for Appointment as Lead Plaintiff
    Type: Other Date on the document: 08/05/1997
    Notice of Rescheduled Hearing on Motion To Dismiss Securities Fraud Complaint for Failure To State a Claim on Which Relief May Be Granted (Rule 12(b)(6))
    Type: Notice Date on the document: 09/17/1997
    Plaintiff's Memorandum in Opposition to Defendants' Motion To Dismiss
    Type: Other Date on the document: 10/17/1997
    Plaintiff's Opposition to Defendants' Request To Take Judicial Notice
    Type: Other Date on the document: 10/17/1997
    Defendants' Reply Brief in Further Support of Motion to Dismiss
    Type: Brief Date on the document: 11/06/1997
    Plaintiff's Reply Memorandum in Support of Motion for Appointment as Lead Plaintiff
    Type: Other Date on the document: 11/14/1997
    Defendants' Answer to Plaintiff's Complaint for Violation of the Federal Securities Laws
    Type: Other Date on the document: 01/07/1998
    Memorandum of Law in Support of Renewed Motion of Joanne Hoffman for Appointment as Lead Plaintiff and Appointment of Plaintiff Hoffman's Counsel as Lead Counsel
    Type: Other Date on the document: 02/20/1998
    Defendants' Opposition to Renewed Motion of Plaintiff Joanne Hoffman for Appointment as Lead Plaintiff
    Type: Other Date on the document: 03/31/1998
    Plaintiff's Notice of Motion and Motion for Class Certification; Memorandum of Points and Authorities
    Type: Motion Date on the document: 07/20/1998
    Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Class Certification
    Type: Other Date on the document: 08/24/1998
    Plaintiff's Reply Brief in Support of Motion for Class Certification
    Type: Brief Date on the document: 09/04/1998
    Plaintiff's Memorandum in Opposition to Defendants' Motion for Consolidation
    Type: Other Date on the document: 09/18/1998
    Defendants' Reply To Briefs In Opposition To Motion To Consolidate
    Type: Other Date on the document: 09/24/1998
    Notice of Entry of Protective Order
    Type: Order Date on the document: 01/20/1999
    Notice of Service of Subpeonas
    Type: Notice Date on the document: 05/26/1999
    Notice of Entry of Order
    Type: Notice Date on the document: 06/01/1999
    Stipulation For Protective Order and [Proposed] Protective Order
    Type: Order Date on the document: 12/22/1998
    Joint Case Management Statement and [Proposed] Order
    Type: Other Date on the document: 09/29/1998
    Party and Counsel List
    Type: Other Date on the document: 04/01/1999

    REFERENCE COMPLAINT
    In re Avant! Corp. Securities Litigation
     COURT: N.D. California  DOCKET NUMBER: 97-CV-20698
     JUDGE NAME: Ronald M. Whyte
     DATE FILED:   SOURCE: Business Wires
     CLASS PERIOD START:   CLASS PERIOD END: 
     TYPE OF COMPLAINT: First Consolidated
     PLAINTIFF FIRMS NAMED IN COMPLAINT:
  • Berger & Montague, P.C.
       1622 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103
       (voice) 800.424.6690, (fax) 215.875.4604, investorprotect@bm.net
  • Gold Bennett Cera & Sidener LLP
       595 Market Street, Suite 2300, San Francisco, CA, 94105-2835sco
       (voice) 800.778.1822, (fax) 415.777.5189, info@gbcsf.com
    _____________________________________________
     TOTAL NUMBER OF PLAINTIFF FIRMS:  2

  •  DOCUMENTS FOR THE REFERENCE COMPLAINT
    Notice Of Pendency And Proposed Resolution Of Class Action
    Type: Settlement Date on the document: 03/29/2001
    U.S. District Court Civil Docket
    Type: Docket Date on the document: 09/30/2002

     OTHER DOCUMENTS
    Joint Supplemental Case Management Conference Statement
    Case Name and/or Number: Cadence Design Systems, Inc. v. Avant! Corporation, et al.
    Type: Declaration Date on the document 01/07/1999

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