Judge Approves BofA Settlement, But Will Have You Know He's Not Happy About It
After months of back and forth, Judge Jed Rakoff finally half-assedly approved the $150 million BofA settlement today. But Jed, who seems to be having a hard time letting go of his newfangled celebrity, didn't want to go down without panache and poetic prose.
"Given the somewhat tortured background of these cases and the difficulties the motion presents, the Court is tempted to quote the great American philosopher Yogi Berra: "I wish I had an answer to that because I'm getting tired of answering that question."'
Jed, who says that the Court "begins where any court should: with the facts," reminds us that not only had "Bank of America's management misled its shareholders, but in so doing they were "motivated by self- interest, greed, hubris, and a palpable sense that the normal rules of fair play did not apply to them." Indeed, 'Bank of America's management thought of itself as too big to play by the rules and, just as disturbingly, too big to tell the truth."
And this he says, is just wrong, because although we're "in an era of purple prose, such language may seem deepest violet."
