Inaccuracies About S&L; Industry Lawsuits

“S&L; Investors Awarded $94 Million” (Aug. 13) states that, according to one of the attorneys for Southern California Federal Savings & Loan and its former shareholders, only one case has been resolved out of about 120 related cases arising from the cleanup of the S&L; industry after the thrift crisis of the 1980s.

Contrary to that statement, almost half, 55 cases, have been resolved, and almost two-thirds have received a judgment from the trial court. Of the 65 remaining cases, 19 are before appellate courts and 46 remain before the trial court.

All but a handful have completed discovery, and the trial court is scheduling trials as expeditiously as possible given the caseload (including thousands of other cases also requiring resolution). Within the last year, the court held 11 S&L; trials; during the last month alone, the court conducted two trials simultaneously.

The suggestion that the government has delayed the litigation is equally erroneous. Contrary to the contention that the government has asserted “every possible defense,” in some cases the government has conceded liability, and, in most, the courts have agreed with our defenses, holding that the government is not liable at all or is liable for only pennies on the dollar of the plaintiffs’ grossly inflated claims.

Moreover, the government has made every effort to hold the parties and the court to the original scheduling orders, while the plaintiffs have repeatedly sought to stay discovery and to change their damages claims, requiring the government to repeat expert discovery and delaying trial.

Finally, contrary to the assertion that the government has filed appeals in “every other such case,” the government has filed only 13 appeals to date, while the plaintiffs have filed 32.

Stuart E. Schiffer

Deputy assistant

attorney general

Civil Division

Department of Justice

Washington