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Vedder Thinking | News Vedder Price Gains Victory for Bank Director

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Vedder Price defended a former Director of Strategic Capital Bank and its holding company, Strategic Bank Capital Bancorp, Inc., in a lawsuit purporting to allege fraud, in violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, and conspiracy, in connection with the issuance of securities by the bank holding company. Strategic Capital Bank was found insolvent and closed in 2009. The plaintiffs were a group of accredited investors who purchased approximately $2.4 million of the bank holding company’s stock in 2008 through a private offering. One year later, the Illinois Department of Professional and Financial Regulation closed the bank and the Federal Deposit Insurance Company was appointed as receiver.

Vedder Price litigators filed a motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim. Firm trial lawyers also argued that the plaintiffs failed to allege actionable fraud and, moreover, the Subscription Agreements that each of the plaintiffs signed, affirmatively precluded their claims. The Circuit Court of Champaign County, Illinois agreed and dismissed all of the claims against the Director, with prejudice.

Chad Schiefelbein served as lead trial counsel on the case. James Kane, Chair of the Financial Institutions Group at Vedder Price, and Rachel Luberda, an associate attorney in the Financial Institution Litigation Practice Group, also contributed to the victory



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Chad A. Schiefelbein

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Rachel T. Copenhaver

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