Famous last words! In trial, anything can happen and actually did as reported in this story in Forbes which illustrates another litigant maxim, “Oops, I should have settled”.
While $20 million seems like a lot of money to settle a case [well, it is], it’s much less than the $604 million dollar verdict [with punitive damages as the next phase]. The judge in the case of Coleman Parent Holdings Inc. v. Morgan Stanley & Co., 03-5045, 15th Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County, Florida [Ron Perelman is the Plaintiff’s controlling shareholder] asked the lawyers if they thought additional mediation [the first round ended in impasse] might be helpful according to this story in Bloomberg. Guess what - they’re talking! [I know, you’re shocked.]
This case is a good example of post-judgment mediation, or better said, mid-judgment mediation [I just made that up]!
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