Mar 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Jonathan J. Rikoon, partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, New York

By: By Jonathan J. Rikoon, partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, New York

It's the latest ruling in a series of New York decisions on trustee liability for improper retention of concentrated stock positions — known, collectively, as the Kodak-IBM cases: On Feb. 3, an appellate court reversed the famous Dumont ruling that had awarded more than $24 million against JP Morgan Chase for holding onto Kodak stock.¹

Unanimously, a five-judge panel of the Appellate Division of New York's Supreme Court held that the Surrogate's Court had erred in determining that the trustee should have sold the trust's holdings of Eastman Kodak Company stock as of a particular date, in the absence of pleadings or proof related to that date. According to the Appellate Court, it was improper for the Surrogate's Court to “look beyond the objections” brought by the trust beneficiaries to determine that a compelling reason existed to sell the Kodak stock as of a different, later date.

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