December 2015 – KBK’s team of Richard B. Kendall, Philip M. Kelly, Randall Jackson, and Meaghan Field – along with co-counsel from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP – scored another big victory for Paramount Pictures Corp. when an appellate court affirmed a ruling in favor of Paramount.
In a lawsuit that has been identified as the “first of the hedge firm versus studio cases to reach a courtroom,” a group of reinsurance companies and hedge funds had sued Paramount, claiming fraud and unjust enrichment in connection with their investment in a slate of films produced and distributed by Paramount between 2004 and 2006. The plaintiffs sought to recover damages of up to $40 million, as well as punitive damages.
Last year, U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest ruled in favor of Paramount, saying the investors were “sophisticated” business people whose claims that Paramount misled them were “not credible.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York affirmed her decision on Dec. 14, saying the judge was correct in dismissing the investors’ claims. For more information, please see Reuters’ and the Hollywood Reporter’s stories.