Plumbers & Pipefitters National Pension Fund v. Burns (Dana Corp.)
Case Summary
Dana Corp. Shareholders Win Major Victory
In November 2016, Robbins Geller secured a $64 million recovery for the class in the Dana litigation after 11 years of hard-fought litigation. The Firm’s Appellate Practice Group successfully appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals twice in a case that accused the former heads of Dana Corp. of securities fraud for trumpeting the auto parts maker’s condition while it actually spiraled toward bankruptcy.
The district court was sufficiently impressed with having been reversed twice that, in granting preliminary approval of the settlement, the court noted: “I reached this conclusion on . . . my prolonged hands-on work on and familiarity with the intricacies of the complex and hard (but well) fought nature of this case, and the high regard I have acquired for the skill, dedication, judgment and integrity of counsel for all parties.”
At the final approval hearing, the court noted: “I kept throwing the case out, and you kept coming back. . . . And it’s both remarkable and noteworthy and a credit to [Robbins Geller] that you did so. . . . [Y]ou persuaded the Sixth Circuit. As we know, that’s no mean feat at all. . . . [The class is] a lot better off than if you hadn’t been as tenacious and as dedicated.”
Robbins Geller attorneys James E. Barz, Debra J. Wyman, Joseph D. Daley, Frank A. Richter, and Laurie L. Largent obtained this result for shareholders.
Plumbers & Pipefitters National Pension Fund v. Burns, No. 3:05-cv-07393-JGC (N.D. Ohio).