PSD Obtains Delaware Chancery Court Approval of Stockholder Class Action Settlement
In Carr v. New Enterprise Associates, et al., PSD represented Ken Carr, the founder of a medical technology company specializing in the use of ablation catheters for treatment of cardiac atrial fibrillation and high blood pressure. On April 4, 2019, the Delaware Court of Chancery approved a class action settlement in which PSD represented the lead plaintiff.
Carr alleged that New Enterprise Associates, certain of its funds and partners, and directors and officers of Advanced Cardiac Technologies, Inc., breached fiduciary duties to a class of minority stockholders by selling a warrant to Abbott Laboratories on the same day NEA completed two other transactions with Abbott involving two other portfolio companies. Carr alleged further that the defendants completed a financing round that diluted the class members’ interests just before engaging in the transaction with Abbott that they knew would happen but did not adequately disclose to the class members.
Chancellor Bouchard found that Carr was not just an adequate class representative, but an exemplary one. Chancellor Bouchard also found that PSD was not just an adequate lead counsel, but also provided “excellent” and “outstanding” representation generating a $9 million dollar settlement for the class that represented what they would have received if the company had been sold pre-dilution for $375 million. The class members also retained their stock interests in the settlement. Chancellor Bouchard also approved the class as defined in the settlement and issued Judgment granting Carr’s request for an extra incentive fee of $175,000 and an award of attorneys’ fees and costs.
When approving the substantial fee award for PSD, Chancellor Bouchard said, with respect to “the Pollack firm, they did — I’ll just say this very bluntly — an outstanding job in this case pursuing their clients’ interest in an aggressive but balanced manner.”
Barry Pollack and Josh Solomon served as lead counsel of record for the class.