A Philadelphia judge abused his discretion by “substituting his business judgment” for that of the Keystone Venture V capital fund’s limited partners when he rejected a proposed $4.5 million settlement between them and Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, the Commonwealth Court ruled Wednesday.
In reinstating the settlement, the 5-2 en banc panel concluded that Common Pleas Judge Gene D. Cohen should have given more consideration to the lack of objections to the settlement from the fund’s limited partners and the “reasonableness” of the settlement amount in light of the risks and cost of litigation.
