The Delaware Court of Chancery’s record-setting awards for damages and attorney fees in the Southern Peru shareholder litigation was affirmed by the Delaware Supreme Court on Monday. In its opinion, the Supreme Court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it awarded $2 billion in damages to Southern Peru’s shareholders or awarded $304 million, roughly 15 percent of the total judgment, to plaintiffs counsel.
An en banc court, which included Delaware Superior Court President Judge James T. Vaughn Jr., who sat by designation in place of Justice Jack B. Jacobs, issued the 110-page opinion in AmericasMining v. Theriault. When the case appeared before Chancery Court Chancellor Leo E. Strine Jr., it was captioned In re Southern Peru Copper Corp. Shareholder Derivative Litigation.
