August 02, 2004

On July 30, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. announced that it had agreed to pay $300 million to a group of plaintiffs (including the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana and the General Retirement System of the City of Detroit) who had launched a class action against the pharmaceutical giant for accounting fraud.

So far, no surprise, right? But BMS had obtained a dismissal of the class action suit, with prejudice (i.e., the plaintiffs could not refile or amend their complaint, which was deemed fatally defective). Plaintiffs had appealed.

Gosh, I wonder what BMS would have paid had they lost at the District Court level! This trial court "defeat" sure turned into a cheap (didn't even need a trial...) victory for plaintiffs' lawyers....