Court Of Appeal Finds Error In Refusal To Give “Business Judgment” Instruction To Jury
Justice Russell C. Ostrander: “judges are not business experts.” Dodge v. Ford Motor Co., 204 Mich. 459, 508 (1919) A few days ago, I wrote about U.S. District Court Judge Dale S. Fischer’s refusal to extend the business judgment rule to officers. See Is FDIC v. Van Dellen California’s Smith v. Van Gorkom? Judge Fischer’s decision ultimately led to a nearly Read more...
Is FDIC v. Van Dellen California’s Smith v. Van Gorkom?
Last Friday, the jury in FDIC v. Van Dellen (C.D. Cal. Case No. CV 10-4915 DSF (SHx)) returned a verdict totalling nearly $169 million against three former officers of the home builder division of IndyMac Bank, F.S.B. The Office of Thrift Supervision closed the bank in 2008. As the receiver for the bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation filed suit against the three former officers. Read more...
District Court Refuses To Apply Business Judgment Rule To Claims Against Officers
Since 2008, a total of 38 banks have failed in California (See this list of failed banks). When this happens, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation acts as receiver for the bank. Since the FDIC is also an insurer of the failed bank’s deposits, it has an interest in pursuing directors, officers and professionals who were involved in the failure. As of June Read more...
