Tyco International

Result: $54 million settlement
Year: 2009

BlackRock Global Allocation Fund, Inc., et al. v. Tyco International Ltd., et al.; Nuveen Balanced Municipal and Stock Fund, et al. v. Tyco International Ltd., et al. Securities Fraud Litigation

Lieff Cabraser represented multiple funds of the investment firms BlackRock Inc. and Nuveen Asset Management in separate, direct securities fraud actions against Tyco International Ltd., Tyco Electronics Ltd., Covidien Ltd, Covidien (U.S.), L. Dennis Kozlowski, Mark H. Swartz, and Frank E. Walsh, Jr.

Plaintiffs alleged that defendants engaged in a massive criminal enterprise that combined the theft of corporate assets with fraudulent accounting entries that concealed Tyco’s financial condition from investors. As a result, plaintiffs purchased Tyco common stock and other Tyco securities at artificially inflated prices and suffered losses upon disclosures revealing Tyco’s true financial condition and defendants’ misconduct.

In 2009, the parties settled the claims against the corporate defendants (Tyco International Ltd., Tyco Electronics Ltd., Covidien Ltd., and Covidien (U.S.). The litigation concluded in 2010. The total settlement proceeds paid by all defendants were in excess of $57 million.