Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott’s proposed $45 million settlement for the benefit of investors defrauded by cash advance company Par Funding may be in danger from an unexpected source: the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that blew up the massive bankruptcy deal negotiated by opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma.
The Purdue deal ran aground over legal protections for the Sackler family, who controlled Purdue and made their fortune on opioid sales. And that ruling, in Harrington v. Purdue Pharmaceuticals, could now upend the settlement negotiated by the Pittsburgh-founded Am Law 200 firm regarding its former partner John Pauciulo’s dealings with Par Funding, which would tap millions from the firm’s malpractice insurance in exchange for an order barring further litigation on the matter, according to attorneys’ statements at a July 12 status conference and court filings.
