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In re WorldCom, Inc. Securities
Litigation
(United States District Court for
the Southern District of New York)
WorldCom Main Page |
Case Highlights |
Background on the Litigation
BLB&G and Lead Plaintiff the New
York State Common Retirement Fund Recover Over $6.15 Billion - Second
Largest Recovery in History - for
WorldCom Investors
On paper, WorldCom, Inc. was the
second-largest long-distance telephone company in the United States.
In June 2002, WorldCom rocked
Wall Street when it revealed that it had overstated billions
of dollars in earnings. On July 21, 2002,
WorldCom filed for bankruptcy.
After nearly three years of litigation
and four weeks of trial before Judge Denise Cote of the United States District
Court for the Southern District of New York, BLB&G and Lead Plaintiff Alan Hevesi, New York
State Comptroller and sole Trustee of the New York State
Common Retirement Fund, have recovered over $6.15 billion in settlement monies on behalf
of the investor class. The Class includes all investors who purchased or acquired publicly
traded shares, bonds or notes of WorldCom, Inc. between April 29, 1999 and June 25,
2002.
IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE TO SHARE IN THE BENEFITS OF
THE SETTLEMENTS, CLASS MEMBERS MUST HAVE SUBMITTED A COMPLETED AND SIGNED PROOF OF CLAIM
FORM POSTMARKED NO LATER THAN AUGUST 26, 2005.
Class Members can obtain Proof of Claim forms online at
www.worldcomlitigation.com.
Questions about the status of your Proof of Claim should be directed to
Litigation Administrator The Garden City Group, Inc. by calling
1-866-808-3556 or via email at
worldcominfo@gardencitygroup.com.
"...Staggeringly High Settlement..."
The WorldCom litigation has attracted an enormous amount of media attention, particularly since the
Citigroup Defendants agreed to pay $2.575 billion to settle all claims against them on May 11, 2004 -
the largest third party payment ever in a securities class action settlement. When first
announced to a worldwide media audience, the settlement was reported across the globe - including
the front pages of both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
Bruce Carton, Executive Director of Securities Class Action Services, a firm which monitors
and researches shareholder litigation, told the Dow Jones Newswires at that time:
"It is a staggeringly
high settlement. This has got to be a huge wake-up call for the other banks."
Recommended Reading:
The litigation continued to generate press, up to and after its conclusion.
"Breaking the
Banks: The Inside Story of $6.1 Billion WorldCom Settlement" (The American Lawyer, December 2005)
"Winning: A Good
Cop/Bad Cop Strategy Scores Big" (National Law Journal, June 20, 2005)
"The Kings
of Class Actions” (BusinessWeek, May 16, 2005)
"Taking
Citi To School" (The American Lawyer, November 2004)
"The magnitude of this settlement is attributable in
significant part to Lead Counsel's advocacy and energy...”
– The Honorable Denise Cote
Throughout the prosecution of the case, Judge Cote has
frequently noted on the record the quality of BLB&G's ongoing representation of the
Class. In granting her approval of the Citigroup Settlement and Plaintiffs’ plan of
allocation, she again praised the efforts of Lead Counsel and Lead Plaintiff:
“The quality of the representation given by Lead Counsel...has been superb...and
is unsurpassed in this Court's experience with plaintiffs' counsel in securities
litigation. Lead Counsel has been energetic and creative. Its negotiations with
the Citigroup Defendants have resulted in a settlement of historic proportions.”
“Face-to-face negotiations before Judge Sweet by Comptroller Hevesi...in the latter
stages of the settlement process greatly facilitated the settlement.”
****
Firm partners Max Berger, Sean Coffey, Steven Singer, Chad Johnson, and John Browne, Senior Counsel Beata Gocyk-Farber and associate Patricia Gillane are responsible for prosecuting
WorldCom Securities Litigation.
Detailed up-to-the minute status
and complete documentation of this litigation is available at
the WorldCom Securities Litigation website at
www.worldcomlitigation.com.
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