Willbros Abandons Vigorous Defense

Today, Willbros Group Inc. (NYSE: WG), announced the settlement of the securities class action pending against the company and certain of its present and former officers and directors in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. A copy of the company's announcement can be found in this 8-K.

Curiously, both the actual announcement and press reports regarding the announcement (AP and Reuters) do not mention the value of the settlement.

In another interesting sidenote, in the company's last 10-Q (filed yesterday), Willbros offered this description of the securities litigation:

While the outcome of such lawsuits cannot be predicted with certainty, the Company believes that it has meritorious defenses and is defending itself vigorously.

That's right - the day before they announced a settlement, the company reiterated it's intent to offer the vaunted "vigorous defense."

Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz, LLP is lead counsel in the Willbros litigation and ADAR Investments, LLC is the lead plaintiff.

Daily Trivia: Ok, this one may not strictly be trivia, but the Willbros logo bears a healthy resemblance to another, more well recognized corporate logo: