FDIC as Receiver for IndyMac Bank, F.S.B. v. Van Dellen, et al.
Dec 07, 2012OUTCOME: $169 million verdict for FDIC
This case was the first lawsuit filed by the FDIC in connection with the 2008 banking crisis, and followed an 18-month investigation into numerous complex residential acquisition, development, and cons ... truction loans that were made by IndyMac Bank, F.S.B. IndyMac failed in July 2008 and was one of the largest bank failures in U.S. history. After two and a half years of hotly contested litigation in federal court, pre-trial rulings eliminated all of the defendants' affirmative defenses including the business judgment rule, mitigation of damages, regulatory conduct and the economy as a superseding cause of loan losses. Mr. Graeler was one of three lead trial lawyers that took the case through a five-week jury trial. The nine-person jury returned a unanimous verdict on December 7, 2012 on all claims and awarded damages of nearly $169 million. The National Law Journal ranked the verdict as number 13 in its annual national "Top Verdicts" list. The verdict was also recognized by the Daily Journal in 2012 as having the most significant impact of any plaintiff's verdict in California and for being the second largest dollar verdict in the state.
