JURIST - Paper Chase: Martha Stewart expected to settle ImClone stock lawsuit for $30 million

[JURIST] Martha Stewart [JURIST news archive], her company and its insurers are expecting to pay $30 million to settle a class action lawsuit regarding Stewart's 2001 sale of ImClone Systems [corporate website] stocks one day before an FDA announcement resulted in a significant drop in the stock's value, according to the company's quarterly report filed with US Securities and Exchange Commission [official website] Wednesday. Settlement negotiations began last month and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia [corporate website], the company's insurers, and Stewart herself are currently planning to pay $15 million, $10 million, and $5 million, respectively. Settlement talks, however, are continuing and any final number will need to be approved by a court.

The SEC report also indicates that the company has provided Stewart with $1.3 million to cover legal costs in the class action lawsuit and has given similar advances to other defendants, most of which has been reimbursed by insurers. Earlier this year, Stewart also agreed to pay $195,000 [JURIST report] to the SEC to settle insider trading civil charges [JURIST report] and promised to refrain from serving as a director of any public company for five years. Dow Jones News has more.

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