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| 2003
News and Press Releases |
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SETTLEMENT "OR" DISMISSAL:
$8 Mil. Settlement, $2.4 Mil. In Fees Ok'd
By: Shannon P. Duffy
The Legal Intelligencer. Vol. 228; No. 83; Pg. 1, April 30, 2003
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EXCERPT: A federal judge has approved an $8 million settlement in a class action securities suit against ATI Technologies Inc., a Canadian manufacturer of computer graphics chips that was accused of misleading investors with falsely optimistic sales projections in early 2000 in order to inflate stock prices prior to a major acquisition. U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell also approved an award of attorney fees equal to 30 percent of the settlement fund, or $2.4 million, to the team of plaintiffs' lawyers.Dalzell found that in light of the risks for both sides, the settlement was clearly a fair one. "Given the well-publicized weaknesses in all technology stocks in the last three years, proof of damages and market causation would have been a daunting task indeed," Dalzell wrote in his 15-page opinion In Re: ATI Technologies. "It is therefore entirely possible that the class would have recovered nothing at all, or a range of recovery not far from what this bird-in-the-hand supplies," Dalzell wrote. Dalzell noted that the class of more than 10,000 investors was notified that the plaintiffs' lawyers could seek up to one-third of the settlement as their fee, but in the end requested just 30 percent. And while the class was warned that litigation expenses of up to $125,000 could also be deducted, the lawyers in the end asked for just $51,318. Dalzell concluded that the fees were reasonable due to the "excellent recovery" for the class.
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