Deal would bring total settlements to more than $42 million to date in ongoing 38 Studios litigation
Commerce Corporation remains engaged in litigation against other defendants, including First Southwest Company and Curt Schilling
The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation announced today it has agreed to a $25.625 million proposed settlement with Wells Fargo Securities, LLC & Barclays Capital Inc. in the 38 Studios litigation. The settlement was filed in Rhode Island Superior Court today and is contingent upon court approval.
If the Court approves the settlement, the Corporation will have obtained settlements totaling more than $42 million in the ongoing 38 Studios litigation, nearly half of the roughly $88 million state moral obligation on 38 Studios bonds for both past and future appropriations.
The settlement is a product of a court-ordered mediation conducted by retired Superior Court Justice Francis J. Darigan, Jr. and the efforts of our counsel in the 38 Studios Litigation, Max Wistow, Stephen Sheehan, and Benjamin Ledsham.
The Corporation previously settled claims against Antonio Afonso, Jr. and Moses Afonso Ryan Ltd. for $4.37 million in June 2014 and Adler, Pollock & Sheehan P.C., Robert I. Stoltzman, J. Michael Saul, and Keith W. Stokes for $12.5 million in August 2015.
The Corporation is still engaged in litigation against other defendants who are not included in this or prior settlements, including First Southwest Company, Starr Indemnity and Liability Company, Curt Schilling, Thomas Zaccagnino, Richard Wester, and Jennifer MacLean. That litigation will go forward in order to further reduce the taxpayers' potential exposure on the remaining moral obligation.