According to the firm's 10-Q filing dated 8/14/2000, in January 1998, a complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine captioned Robert A. Rose, et.al. v. David E. Shaw, et al. The plaintiffs purported to represent a class of purchasers of the common stock of the Company from July 19, 1996 through March 24, 1997. The complaint claimed that the defendants violated Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-5 promulgated pursuant thereto, by virtue of false or misleading statements made during the class period. The complaint also claimed that the individual defendants were liable as "control persons" under Section 20(a) of that Act. In addition, the complaint claimed that the individual defendants sold some of their own common stock of the Company, during the class period, at times when the market price for the stock allegedly was inflated. In July 1999, the U.S. District Court granted the Company's motion to dismiss the case for failure to state a claim. However in August 1999, the plaintiffs appealed that ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. In February 2000, the Company entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (the "MOU") with the plaintiffs pursuant to which the parties agreed to settle the suit. Pursuant to the MOU, the Company and the plaintiffs filed a Stipulation of Settlement (the "Stipulation") with the U.S. District Court. The Stipulation was approved by the District Court on June 20, 2000 and the complaint was dismissed with prejudice. The settlement (in excess of the portion reimbursed through insurance) will not affect results of operations in 2000.