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Conflicts Keyed to Currie
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. v. Epstein
Facts
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (Defendant) made a tender offer that led to Defendant’s acquisition of MCA, Inc., a Delaware corporation. A class action was filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery against MCA and later, Matsushita (Defendant), for breach of fiduciary duty in failing to maximize shareholder value. At the same time, another complaint was filed in federal court, claiming violations of Securities Exchange Commission Rules. The district court dismissed the federal action and the case was appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The parties to the Delaware suit negotiated a settlement before a decision was handed down in that case. The Chancery Court certified a class for purpose of settlement and approved a notice of the proposed settlement. Epstein (Plaintiff) was a member of both the state and federal plaintiff classes but failed to opt out of the settlement class or to appear at the hearing to contest the settlement or the representation of the class. On appeal in the Ninth Circuit, Matsushita (Defendant) raised the Delaware judgment as a bar to further prosecution under the Full Faith and Credit Act. The court of appeals found that 28 U.S.C. § 1738 did not apply, and formed a test under which the preclusive force of a state court settlement judgment was limited to those claims that could have been extinguished by the issue preclusive effect of an adjudication of the state claims. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.
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