Highland Capital Not Alone In Not Having To Pay Huge Judgments Against It

As is true of many, from the president of the United States on down, who enjoy a good courtroom scrape, Highland Capital Management has won some and lost some. But the former hedge fund doesn’t sweat the latter, because it has an uncanny ability to avoid paying anything when it does lose. Unfortunately for James Dondero & co., two can play at that game, and its $351 million real-estate fraud payday from Credit Suisse just got a major trim by the Texas Supreme Court.

Credit Suisse Securities USA won’t have to pay a unit of hedge fund Highland Capital Management LP $287.5 million for a bungled land appraisal ahead of a 2007 Las Vegas real estate deal, but it can’t shake a jury’s $40 million fraud verdict, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday. The high court wiped out the $211 million in damages and $75 million in prejudgment interest awarded to highland subsidiary Claymore Holdings LLC after a Dallas County District Court bench trial, finding the award overcompensated Claymore for the fraudulent appraisal.