The US Supreme Court has decided not to listen to an appeal filed by InfoSpace founder Naveen Jain requesting that he be allowed to sue JP Morgan Securities and his former attorneys for allegedly mishandling an insider stock trading lawsuit.
What happened was that InfoSpace Inc. INSP shareholder Thomas Dreiling filed a derivative action against Naveen and his wife, InfoSpace cofounder Anuradha. Dreiling contended that they violated short-swing trading prescriptions that prevent corporate insiders from selling and buying or buying and selling company stock during a six-month period.
The federal court ruled in Dreiling’s favor and the Jains were ordered to pay $246.1 million in disgorgement. The lawsuit was eventually settled for $105 million.
The Jains, however, then sought to get the amount they were fined for participating in illegal short-swing transactions from their stock management company and their attorneys. He and his wife had accused the defendants for the language in his company’s initial public offering prospectus that contributed to such a healthy judgment against them. Their lawsuit alleged breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, malpractice, and equitable indemnity.
Since then, the lower courts, including the Washington Court of Appeals, have thrown out their lawsuit because federal law bars complaints that blame security companies for such trades. The appeals court, in affirming the initial dismissal, noted that an insider who violates Section 16B of the Securities Exchange Act cannot receive indemnification from others for any liability that results. While the state court acknowledged that the rule against indemnification might protect some securities professionals from the repercussions of their misconduct, Congress still wants corporate insiders to be held strictly liable for short-swing violations.
Related Web Resources:
Supreme Court turns down appeal from InfoSpace founder, Seattle Times/AP, March 9, 2009
InfoSpace
Supreme Court of the United States
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