Aspen Technology Secures Victory in Securities Fraud Case

Skadden won a trial victory for firm client Aspen Technology, Inc. (AspenTech) in the Massachusetts Superior Court Business Litigation Session in a treble-damage securities fraud case following a November 2009 bench trial.  AspenTech had acquired the plaintiffs' company in a cash-and-stock transaction in 2000, but in 2005, AspenTech restated all applicable historical financial statements following an audit committee investigation of revenue recognition issues.  The plaintiffs opted out of a class action settlement to pursue trebled $30 million claims against AspenTech and three of its former officers, claiming that the financial statements they relied upon in the acquisition transaction were materially false and fraudulent.  Amid a thicket of testimonial and documentary facts, Justice Judith Fabricant ruled on January 19, 2010, that "the plaintiffs take nothing ... the action be dismissed on the merits, and that the defendants recover of the plaintiffs its costs of action, as provided by law."