Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll announced Wednesday that Royal Bank of Scotland would pay $275 million to resolve claims that it duped investors into buying securities backed by shoddy home loans. The firm says it’s the third-largest class action settlement in a federal mortgage-backed securities case. For partner Joel Laitman, it’s been a long time coming.
The Royal Bank of Scotland suit is just one of three financial crisis cases spearheaded by Laitman and his partner Christopher Lometti that were nearly extinguished by the courts, only to be brought back to life last year. Known as the “Harborview” case after the name of the securities offerings at issue, the RBS class action was among the first filed by MBS investors after the subprime mortgage market meltdown. As such, it’s been a test case for key legal issues in the MBS wars, making for a roller coaster ride for the lawyers.
