As reported in The 10b-5 Daily last year, there is a dispute among the lead plaintiffs in the Halliburton securities class action over a proposed $6 million settlement. Scott + Scott (which represents one of the four lead plaintiffs) refused to sign onto the settlement and continues to challenge the appropriateness of the proposed payment. On June 7, 2004, Judge Godbey of the N.D. of Tex. gave his preliminary approval of the settlement. Since then, however, there have been two notable developments.
First, Scott + Scott moved the court to file a new class action complaint against Halliburton. The proposed complaint included allegations from anonymous former employees and got widespread publicity (in a number of newspapers under the erroneous headline “Ex-Employees Sue Halliburton For Fraud”). Second, Judge Godbey discovered this week that he may have sold Halliburton stock during the class period and recused himself from the case. CBSMarketwatch.com has thorough coverage of the story. Scott+Scott has stated that it will renew its motions before the new judge.
The 10b-5 Daily 