As a rule of thumb, the BIGGER the claim the FLAKIER it is.....the hope is the defendant will settle for a small fraction (....of a ridiculously inflated claim) to get out of it but it has the opposite effect and defendants just fight them harder and win.
See posts below - companies like CNP are typically insured for claims like this anyway so doesn't cost them a zak!
Rgs ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- yes Sacophagus - i doubt anyone would say the litigation is a 'plus'......but as to liability?
cnp clearly does not concede it incorrectly classified the debt and has no doubt been advised accordingly by its lawyers, thereby forcing the hand of the plaintiff's to issue the class action.
a legal case that is a clear "winner" is rare thing in civil litigation, hence the statistical facts that: - more than 9 out of ten civil cases issued never get to trial - more than half of those that get to trial settle before judgement - class action are even less likely to get to trial.
typical of these disputes will be a myriad of complex legal arguments 'for' and 'against' prepared by leading barristers (ie. QC/SC's at $15,000 per day), a ton of messy documents and disputed evidence, and some poor overworked judge that has to crunch through it all before deciding (with enourmous discretion) the case.
most litigants are not prepared to roll the dice and go to trial. many such cases settle on the making of a 'nuisance value' or token settlement payment that only covers the lawyers costs.
CNP IS LIKELY TO HAVE LIABILITY INSURANCE COVER FOR THIS CLAIM! --------------------------- swap
This is in response to your comments copied below.
Lawyer don't give a damn how much money the defendant company has so long as the defendant company has insurance for the liability.
Companies in liquidation are frequently involved in costly litigation. It is typically the insurers that are defending the claims because they and not the company itself carry the liability risk as well as the liability to pay legal costs on behalf of the insured defendant company.
Public companies are typically insured for compliance/non-disclosure type liabilities and I would expect Centro and its directors and officers to be insured for this type of claim.
Cheers ------------------------------------------------- "EVEN THE LAWYERS THINK CENTRO WILL SURVIVE !!!!!!
... and they obviously value the company at a good few hundred million dollars.
Lawyers are not the smartest of people, but they wouldn't bother starting proceedings against a company that was worthless."
CNP Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
