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Judge considers new trial date in Enron case
Houston, July 11: The federal judge overseeing a massive cluster of shareholder lawsuits against Enron Corp originally wanted to demonstrate how fast a major civil case could move by setting a trial date two years after the company`s December 2001 failure.
Houston, July 11: The federal judge overseeing a massive cluster of shareholder lawsuits against Enron Corp originally wanted to demonstrate how fast a major civil case could move by setting a trial date two years after the company's December 2001 failure.
But US district court Judge Melinda Harmon heard a proposal yesterday to set an October 2005 trial date for the claims against the company, former executives and various banks and brokerages. That would be nearly four years after Enron's implosion.
The judge said she would rule later on the proposal, which is designed to get the cases moving.
The main action, with the University of California as the lead plaintiff among large institutional investors, alleges Enron, dozens of former executives from the energy company and its one-time auditor, Arthur Andersen Llp, and a string of financial institutions defrauded investors with shady accounting, inflated profits and hidden debt in the years before Enron imploded in a sea of scandal. The suit seeks at least USD 25 billion in damages. Lawyers representing less broad claims that have been folded into the cluster argued they should be able to work faster, particularly since they didn't ask to be added to the university's suit.
The lawsuits, originally slated for trial in December this year, had been on hold for months while Harmon in April 2003 finished ruling on defence requests to throw them out. Most defendants were kept in the litigation.
Bureau Report
The judge said she would rule later on the proposal, which is designed to get the cases moving.
The main action, with the University of California as the lead plaintiff among large institutional investors, alleges Enron, dozens of former executives from the energy company and its one-time auditor, Arthur Andersen Llp, and a string of financial institutions defrauded investors with shady accounting, inflated profits and hidden debt in the years before Enron imploded in a sea of scandal. The suit seeks at least USD 25 billion in damages. Lawyers representing less broad claims that have been folded into the cluster argued they should be able to work faster, particularly since they didn't ask to be added to the university's suit.
The lawsuits, originally slated for trial in December this year, had been on hold for months while Harmon in April 2003 finished ruling on defence requests to throw them out. Most defendants were kept in the litigation.
Bureau Report