On Friday, Cuban’s lawyers at Dewey & LeBoeuf filed a motion for an undisclosed amount of attorneys’ fees and costs. Earlier this month, the Dewey lawyers had won a ruling from Dallas federal district court judge Sidney Fitzwater dismissing the SEC’s complaint against Cuban with prejudice. The SEC had alleged that Cuban violated insider trading laws when he sold shares of Mamma.com after he learned of a pending offering that would dilute the value of his stock. Judge Fitzwater agreed with Dewey that the SEC had failed to show that Cuban had a legal obligation to refrain from the trades.
In their motion for fees, the Dewey team–Ralph Ferrara, Stephen Best, Lyle Roberts, Henry Asbill, and Christopher Clark–write that they’re not seeking the money simply because Judge Fitzwater dismissed the suit. Instead, they write: “Mr. Cuban and the court never should have been forced to address this suit. The SEC’s insider trading claim against Mr. Cuban is wholly unsupported by the facts.”
