Our first runners-up this week are William Reid IV and Nathaniel Palmer of Reid Collins & Tsai, who landed one of the largest ever settlements in shareholder derivative litigation, a $300 payout to minority shareholders in Renren Inc., a company once dubbed the “Facebook of China.” The deal, which still requires sign-off from New York State Supreme Court Justice Andrew Borrok in Manhattan, is subject to a “true up” process that could take that number higher. Reid and Palmer fended off a defense dismissal bid claiming the plaintiffs lacked standing to assert claims under Cayman Islands law in New York state court and got that ruling to stand up on appeal. The plaintiffs are represented by co-counsel at Grant & Eisenhoffer, Gardy & Notis and Ganfer Shore Leeds & Zauderer.
A team from Kasowitz Benson Torres takes home a runner-up spot for getting a ruling from U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason in Alaska clearing the way for 26 million pounds of frozen fish to cross the border from Canada. The temporary restraining order bars the U.S. Customs and Border Protection while the litigation is pending from fining shippers under the Jones Act for using a short rail strip running from New Brunswick, Canada to the Calais, Maine, border crossing. The 1920 federal law requires domestically shipped cargo to be carried by vessels built in the U.S. and 75% crewed by Americans. According to the plaintiffs, Alaska Reefer Management and Kloosterboer International Forwarding, CBP began issuing penalties under the law in August to the tune of $350 million and intended to issue $41 million more if the pollock stranded in Canada came into the U.S. via the route in question. The Kasowitz team representing the plaintiffs is led by partners Marc Kasowitz, Hector Torres, David Ross, David Abrams and Kim Conroy.
