Leprino Foods Company’s $2 Billion Trial Win is Upheld by Colorado Appellate Panel

Colorado appellate panel upheld a 2022 trial win for King & Spalding client Leprino Foods Company on January 25, 2024. The panel ruled in favor of the defendants, dismissing the plaintiffs appeal to reverse the December 2022 jury verdict which rejected claims of fiduciary duty and oppression. In the initial claim, the plaintiffs (nieces of company founder James G. Leprino) alleged that as minority shareholders they’d been deliberately misled regarding the company business and shut out of money-making loan back deals, which they argued benefited majority shareholders. They sought to dissolve the company and $2 billion dollars in damages. King & Spalding represented the majority shareholders and successfully defended Leprino Foods Company against these claims in December 2022, demonstrating that the various business deals had benefited minority and majority shareholders, and pointed to dividend payouts to minority shareholders of nearly $250 million over the past 10 years.