William B. Weinberger, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees v. Kendrick, et al., Defendants-Appellees, Charles M. Coyne, et al., Appellants , 698 F.2d 61

Summary

The court had previously entered an unpublished order on petitions for rehearing filed by appellant class of securities purchasers, where the trial court approved settlement of class actions brought by appellants, in which they alleged violations of federal and state securities law. The court rejected appellant's counsel's assertions that the trial judge had simply rubber-stamped the submissions of counsel for appellee bankruptcy trustee. The trial judge was found to have properly adopted appellee's proposed finding of fact where he had no reason to do otherwise. The court recognized that the trial judge's discussion of the law of equitable subordination was problematic. Upon further consideration of the petition for rehearing, the court reaffirmed the duty of district judges to make a considered and detailed assessment of the reasonableness of proposed settlements of class actions. The petitions were granted on a limited basis to correct the factual statement, but were otherwise ...