On September 23, 2021, the U.S. District for the Eastern District of Michigan granted final approval of the parties’ proposed settlement in Oklahoma Police Pension & Retirement System v. Sterling Bancorp et al., No. 20-cv-10490 (E.D. Mich.), a major putative class action securities litigation lead by a pension-fund shareholder against Sterling Bancorp, Inc. (“Sterling”). Plaintiff’s complaint alleged violations of Sections 11 and 12(a)(2) of the Securities Act relating to certain disclosures surrounding Sterling’s IPO, as well as violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act relating to certain of Sterling’s subsequent disclosures. Levine Lee represented Sterling in the matter.

The settlement of this case followed a complex litigation in which Levine Lee, as lead counsel to Sterling, acted as coordinating counsel among fourteen individual and institutional defendants represented by nine different defense counsel groups. At the time of the settlement, Sterling had filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, but the Court had not yet issued a decision on the motion. Sterling previously announced that the settlement was fully funded by insurance.

Seth L. Levine, Kenneth E. Lee, and Chad P. Albert worked on the matter. The settlement is further discussed here: Law360, “Michigan Bank, Pension Fund Settle“