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Ian Roffman quoted in “Local Banks Score Victory Against ‘Pirates’”
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Ian Roffman, a member of the firm’s Litigation practice group, was quoted in “Local Banks Score Victory Against ‘Pirates’” in Banker & Tradesman on October 31. The article discusses recent Nutter court victories, in which Nutter attorneys successfully defended two high-profile bank mergers, the merger of North Andover’s RiverBank with Connecticut’s People’s United Bank and of Wainwright Bank & Trust Co. and Eastern Bank.
In both cases, Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Fabricant denied requests that would have disrupted the shareholder votes. Judge Fabricant found in both cases that there was more than enough information in the banks’ Proxy filings to move forward with the shareholder vote despite claims by plaintiffs’ lawyers that the banks failed to provide enough financial information on the deal.
Ian, who represented Eastern Bank and RiverBank in the two cases, said in many cases banks make a business decision to agree to a settlement with plaintiffs’ law firms. The banks in these cases instead decided to take on the challenge – leaving plaintiffs’ lawyers empty-handed. But more importantly, Ian said, it sets a precedent that such frivolous suits will be aggressively defended and won’t be rewarded in Massachusetts.
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In both cases, Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Fabricant denied requests that would have disrupted the shareholder votes. Judge Fabricant found in both cases that there was more than enough information in the banks’ Proxy filings to move forward with the shareholder vote despite claims by plaintiffs’ lawyers that the banks failed to provide enough financial information on the deal.
Ian, who represented Eastern Bank and RiverBank in the two cases, said in many cases banks make a business decision to agree to a settlement with plaintiffs’ law firms. The banks in these cases instead decided to take on the challenge – leaving plaintiffs’ lawyers empty-handed. But more importantly, Ian said, it sets a precedent that such frivolous suits will be aggressively defended and won’t be rewarded in Massachusetts.
