Quote:
Originally Posted by bimmertl
Interesting to allege "everyone walked away happy" from the lawsuit against the developer. Morse settled the case for $47 million. Doubt he was grinning his way to the bank to get the funds.
There was no finding against Morse as he bought his way out of the lawsuit. What he got was a confidentiality agreement from the plaintiffs which kept them silent as to what they discovered during the litigation process.
Most confidentiality agreements cover the settlement amount, which this one didn't. Morse buying his way out ended the discovery process which would have included him producing all his financial records and depositions of he and his management staff.
In order to avoid that becoming public he coughed up the money and bought the confidentiality agreement.
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My recollection is that $6,700,000 of the settlement went to the lawyers, $300,000 went to Villages class representatives who filed the suit and the balance was to be paid over 13 years. That would seem to dilute the large numbers you use in your argument. Please feel free to correct any fuzzy math or assumptions I make. Sometimes I can't remember what I had for breakfast.
Notwithstanding your point to the contrary, my concern is that he may well have been "grinning" on the way to the bank. A haunting concern is what motivated the rather quick settlement by the plaintiffs and there attornies.....was it settled in the interest of The Villages or the prospect of a big pay day?
What incentive is there to holdout for a bigger award if the opposition put a $7,000,000 bone on the table for the litigants. If the potential in the discovery process was as great as you suggest.......why wouldn't you be suspicious of the "settlement" as well? A thirteen year payout seems to dilute the large settlement numbers you and others bandy about and suggest was a good deal for Villagers and a stigma to the developer. The 13 year spread factor never seems to be included in your equation. Perhaps because it dilutes the impact of the "big number" and just possibly......Villagers may have been shortchanged at the table. I guess we will never know. Just my opinion.
My apologies for hijacking the Morse/Moose thread.