Skadden secured the dismissal, with prejudice, of five related class action lawsuits brought against LaSalle Bank, N.A. (now Bank of America) in California Superior Court, Orange County. The putative class claimed LaSalle (1) aided and abetted the allegedly fraudulent sale of commercial real estate investments and (2) fraudulently concealed the purported truth about the investments, which were marketed by promoters unaffiliated with the bank.
On March 28, Judge Gail A. Andler dismissed the lawsuits, agreeing with Skadden’s arguments that the statutes of limitations barred certain claims and that the bank could not be liable, as a matter of law, because it could not have knowingly assisted the alleged fraud and because it owed no duties to downstream investors by virtue of making a loan to the promoters.