DETROIT — General Motors Corp. shareholders won’t get rich from a $303 million settlement that could be finalized this month, but the lawyers stand to reap millions.
A judge in Detroit is overseeing the lawsuit, which involves investors who held GM stock or bonds over a six-year period when common shares crashed 75 percent.
Anyone who owned stock would get roughly 25 cents per share, if every eligible shareholder files a claim. If fewer claims are filed, the payment would rise.
Attorneys, meanwhile, want 19 percent of the cash pool for their work — nearly $60 million.
The deal was struck in the summer before GM went to Washington seeking billions in federal loans to stay alive. U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen, who has granted preliminary approval, will hold a final hearing Dec. 22.
“Call it a combination of luck and good judgment,” said James Sabella of New York, a lead lawyer for investors. “If we hadn’t settled when we did, there’s no way we’d be settling now. There’s no way they’d be giving us this kind of money.”
But not everyone is pleased with the millions in fees sought by lawyers. The Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System filed an objection this week.
Glenn Brewer and his wife, Elise Fitzgerald, of Weems, Va., who hold 1,500 GM shares, call it “windfall profits” for attorneys.
“This case typifies a proliferation of class-action claims against large corporations wherein the defendant agrees to a nuisance settlement to avoid further litigation and the shareholders reap minimal benefit,” they wrote in a Dec. 1 letter to the judge.
