In Re Real Estate Associates Limited Partnership Litigation

100% Recovery for Investors and the First Plaintiffs’ Jury Verdict Awarding Damages After the Passage of the PSLRA.

C&T achieved national recognition for obtaining, in a federal securities litigation, the first successful plaintiffs’ verdict under the PSLRA.  Mr. Chimicles was Lead Trial Counsel in the six-week jury trial in federal court in Los Angeles. The jury verdict, in the amount of $185 million (half in compensatory damages; half in punitive damages), stands as the first, and until recently, the largest,  jury verdict in favor of shareholders in a case brought under the federal securities laws since their amendment in 1995 was ranked among the top 10 verdicts in the nation for 2002.  After the court reduced the punitive damage award because it exceeded California statutory limits, the case settled for $83 million, representing full recovery for the losses of the class (the settlement was an amount that exceeded the damages calculated by Plaintiffs’ expert)..  At the final hearing, the Court praised Counsel for achieving both a verdict and a settlement that “qualif[ied] as an exceptional result” in what the Judge regarded as “a very difficult case… on a scale of 1 to 10, it would be a 9 or a 10.” In addition, the Judge noted the case’s "novelty and complexity…and the positive reaction of the class. Certainly, there have been no objections, and I think Plaintiffs’ counsel has served the class very well."

Case No. CV 98-7035 DDP (C. D. Cal)