Shell Settles Fraud Case

BRUSSELS -- In a legal milestone, American trial lawyers have reaped their first big payday in Europe: $47 million in fees from settling a securities-fraud case with Royal Dutch Shell PLC, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Europe's largest oil company by market capitalization said Wednesday it would pay $352.6 million to settle claims brought in the U.S. by European shareholders, who accused Shell of defrauding them by overstating its reserves. The Netherlands-based oil giant also agreed to pay attorneys' fees to three American law firms that represented the European investors, the paper reported.

The agreement marks the first time that an all-European cast of players has leveraged U.S. courts to settle stock-fraud allegations, marking a further step in a gradual migration of U.S.-style civil-litigation methods to Europe, the paper reported.

Also unusual was the use of a new Dutch law, which is partly modeled on the American class-action system. The Dutch law allows a company defending itself against similar charges by multiple plaintiffs to reach a court-approved settlement in Amsterdam, the paper reported.

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 4/11/07