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happyNow Playing: Hopping On The Hog - Animal rights parade turns into broohaha (reality animal house)
Topic: Growth Charts
Quack Quack. Smells like a duck. Dinner.
Well worth reading. Puts Settlement + Stipulation quite well.
http://ragingbull.quote.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=VCSY&read=217164
| Msg. 217164 of 217178 |
for what it is worth...
I have been a shareholder since before the split and some of you may remember me from one of the other forums. I have been visiting this site on a daily basis for about 8 yrs now, but I don't think I have posted before. If so, it was a long time ago and probably under a different handle.
Anyway, I thought I might be able to share some insight on the recent legal developments...for whatever it is worth. I am a lawyer in SC and primarily handle civil litigation matters as defense counsel. I confess that in over 10 yrs of practicing, I haven't handled a single patent infringement case. Not much call for that here. However, I regularly handle cases in the US District Court for the District of SC and I have mediated and negotiated many settlements of a variety of types of civil cases.
I am surprised that the questions raised by several of you over the past couple of days have not been answered by another lawyer by now, but I thought maybe I should at least share my experience.
First, let me say that the filing of the mediator's report was wonderful news to me. I have been hoping for a settlement ever since the news broke about the suit being filed. Had this case gone to trial, we would like be several years from a resolution. I've yet to see a defense lawyer walk across the courtroom after a plaintiff's verdict and whip out a checkbook. And the larger the verdict, the greater the likelihood of an appeal. Thus, I am glad a settlement has been reached. In this case, a bird in the hand, regardless the size, is better than two in the bush.
Second, as for the forms, they appear to be fairly standard. The mediator's report typically does not contain any details of settlement terms and is usually brief and to the point. In this case, given the hearing date of 7/25, of it was probably necessary to get the report filed in order to get the hearing canceled. The stipulation of dismissal is also a fairly standard (and brief) document. The fact that it includes the language "with prejudice" simply means that all claims that were brought as part of this action are dismissed with finality and cannot be brought again. Sometimes dismissals are made without prejudice when a plaintiff wants to buy time from a trial roster or may not have the right defendant, but is not certain and doesn't want to extinguish the right to file suit against the same party again. Anyway, it simply means that all parties agree this matter is over.
It is customary for settling parties to pay their own lawyers and costs. However, that does not mean that the settlement figure does not take VCSY's fees into account. The settlement documents might not say it specifically, but I have been in many mediations where I have negotiated settlement figures based upon the estimated net recovery of the plaintiff. Otherwise, what's the point. Until you get to numbers large enough for the plaintiff to pay their lawyers and costs, you are not giving the plaintiff any incentive to settle the case.
Like most of you, I have spent the last several days dreaming about the possibilities and quite frankly, love the idea of early retirement. However, I am trying, though very difficult, to keep some perspective. After all, many of us have spent the last 8 yrs or so thinking about what we could have done with the money if we had only sold at 6 bucks. To be honest, I had serious doubts that days like Monday would ever return. It almost seemed surreal. I hope this is our last laugh, but we need to be patient and let it play out.
The speed with which technology improves has enabled us to monitor federal court filings in almost real time now. This type of monitoring has only been available for a few years (at least in SC, but we usually get things last). Anyway, back in the day, we would have only heard about this filing if a newspaper or other media outlet reported it by having someone monitoring the filings by actually flipping through them at the courthouse. Now we have that luxury. As a result, we have come to expect information to be released faster than ever before.
It is not unusual for a case to settle at mediation and not actually be "wrapped up" for weeks depending upon the complexity of the terms and the time it takes to get the money. Thus, I have been reminding myself of this fact for the past few days and trying to be patient. The filing of the stipulation could be very significant however. I have never signed a stipulation of dismissal and sent it for filing before the actual settlement agreement was fully executed and I would expect that a case like this with heavy hitting lawyers involved would be no different. Thus, I am expecting and hoping that we will see some news with more specifics very soon.
As for all the speculation, I am not going to engage in that kind of stuff on this board. I have some thoughts and I also hope some of the things I've read on here will actually happen, but I don't see the point in arguing about details we no nothing about. It's funny how some folks on here will take a shot in the dark on some point and if they turn out to be correct, however so brief, they proclaim themselves to be some kind of authority on every other unknown issue of debate.
I have been typing for awhile now and apologize for the rambling. I will leave with this...I am very confident that VCSY came away with something significant from this settlement. I do not believe Niro would have risked his reputation on a "penny stock" without a damn good reason. That said, I would be surprised if VCSY got what some of you have opined would be "full value" for its claims. Settlements are about compromise and evaluating risks associated with trial, both financial and intangible (i.e. media coverage). Hopefully, VCSY had the goods as we all believe and that was enough leverage for it to come away with a significant settlement that is either large enough to put us on the map as a legitimate tech company or configured in such away that we become big fans of MSFT because of a partnership of some degree. While not impossible, it is rare for one party to walk away from a mediated settlement with the feeling that they really stuck it to the other party. Typically, one party pays more than they want to and want party accepts less than they want to...all in the name of avoiding the possibility of verdict that is a nightmare. Money is a motivator, fear is too. When the two are used together, deals can get done.
Good luck to us all. We have already come a long way back. We may not wake up to gapped up price of $5 that spares us from the gut wrenching experience of the roller coaster, but hey...at least we are getting to ride again.
SCDAWGFAN
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Isn't it nice to have the services of an attorney for free by way of socializing technology... also free? Thanks SCDAWGFAN. Remember from the treefort days at programmers heaven. Nice to have old gang post again.
