Recent Cases
Settlements
As recently exemplified by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Geier v. Sundquist, 372 F.3d 784 (6th Cir. 2004), the firm has been responsible for class action settlements of historical and national significance. In Geier, a civil rights action in which the firm served as original and lead counsel for plaintiffs and successfully litigated for over thirty-six years, and which resulted in the dismantling of a dual system of education in the state of Tennessee and resulted in benefits totaling in excess of $320 million, the Sixth Circuit, in noting the "exceptional nature and national significance of the case" stated:
[T]he magnitude of this case is formidable in numerous respects. The legal principles advanced by the Geier Plaintiffs were path breaking and of great social import. It was in this case that this Court first held that there was an affirmative duty to remove all vestiges of state-imposed segregation in institutions of public higher education, just as there was such an obligation at lower educational levels. Plaintiffs have litigated -- successfully -- for thirty-six years against continuous state opposition and contrary judicial precedents outside this Circuit, and they have secured injunctive relief -- valued at approximately $320 million -- in programs affecting all public institutions of higher education.
Id. at 795. The court concluded by noting that "the tenacity of the attorneys and broad remedies obtained . . . render this a "rare" and "exceptional" case. Id. The Geier case served as a model for other similar cases brought in the South. Id.
In approving the final settlement and dismissal of the historical Geier litigation, Senior Judge Thomas Wiseman, Jr. stated:
Finally, having had the judicial responsibility for this case for the entire 28 years of my tenure as a judge, the Court takes this opportunity to record officially in the Order of Dismissal and in the permanent records of the Middle District of Tennessee some personal observations and laudatory remarks.
The progress of this case, particularly in recent years, presents a remarkable example of the societal benefit that can occur when lawyers of vision and imagination, motivated by a passion to not only represent a client but to achieve a just result, apply their energy and intellect to a problem. This Court and this case have been blessed with outstanding lawyers in the fines traditions of the profession. Mr. George Barrett recognized the problem and brought it to his inimitable creativity and perseverance . . . Good lawyers make a judge's job easy.
Geier et al. v. U.S., et al., No. 5077, Final Order of Dismissal, *2 (M.D. Tenn. Sept. 21, 2006) (Wiseman, J.).
The firm has also been responsible for other significant settlements of class action cases including the two largest securities class action settlements in Tennessee and Sixth Circuit history. One of those settlements, In re Dollar General Corp. Securities Litigation, Case No. 3:01-0388 (M.D. Tenn.) (Wiseman, J.), which settled for $172.5 million, is also the largest securities class action settlement in Sixth Circuit history and at the time represented the tenth largest settlement of a securities class action since the passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act in 1995. The other settlement, In re Prison Realty Securities Litigation, Civ. No. 3-99-0452 (M.D. Tenn.) (Campbell, J.), which settled for $107 million, is the second largest securities class action settlement in Sixth Circuit history and at the time represented the sixteenth largest settlement of a securities class action since the passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act in 1995. Additionally, in Morse v. McWhorter et al., Civ. No. 3-97-0370 (M.D. Tenn.) (Higgins,J.), which settled for $51.25 million, the firm served as Liaison Counsel on Plaintiffs' Executive Committee in an action brought against Columbia/HCA and its officers and directors in an action alleging violations of federal securities laws.
The firm represented Lead Plaintiff and institutional investor Pirelli Armstrong Tire Corporation Retiree Medical Benefits Trust in Pirelli Armstrong Tire Corporation Retiree Medical Benefits Trust v. Hanover Compressor Company, et al., Civil Action No. H-02-0410 (S.D. Tex.) (Gilmore, J.), a securities class action in which the court approved a settlement of $85 million which included significant and unprecedented corporate governance changes including the first time a company agreed to rotate its outside auditor as part of a resolution of a shareholder class action.
These settlements have produced monetary recovery and/or benefits for consumers, investors and citizens across the country totaling nearly a billion dollars in recoveries and including significant corporate governance changes and enhancements. These settlements include: