Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP Announces Important Victory Against Taubman Centers, Inc.

Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP Announces Important Victory
Against Taubman Centers, Inc. 


NEW YORK, June 17  /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of Milberg Weiss Bershad &
Schulman LLP announced today a significant legal victory in its lawsuit against
members of the Taubman Centers, Inc. ("TCO") Board of Directors in connection
with an appeal pending in the Federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The appeal arose from the dismissal of a federal district court action
challenging the defensive measures of the TCO Board, which includes members of
the Taubman family, in seeking to fend off a premium-priced hostile acquisition
offer made last year by Simon Property Group, Inc. ("SPG").  At the heart of
the case is plaintiff's claims that members of the Taubman family and their
allies were using shares issued to them in a 1998 restructuring of TCO to
effectively block the SPG offer.  The district court judge dismissed the case
on technical jurisdictional grounds, ruling that the shareholder plaintiff's
claims could not be brought in a federal court because the plaintiff and a
Taubman-controlled partnership not named as a defendant were citizens of the
same state.

In reversing the district court's decision, the Sixth Circuit reasoned that the
federal district court could consider the dispute if A. Alfred Taubman, TCO's
founder who was not a named as a defendant in the original lawsuit, could be
found to adequately represent the interests of the absent partnership,
rendering it unnecessary to name that entity as a defendant.  The Sixth Circuit
remanded the lawsuit to the Eastern District of Michigan for further
proceedings consistent with its opinion.

Steven G. Schulman, the Milberg Weiss partner who argued the appeal, said today
that he "was extremely pleased with the outcome."  Mr. Schulman also said that
he, in conjunction with the other counsel in the case, "were confident that any
procedural obstacles to maintenance of the suit in the court below could be
overcome" and that they were "enthusiastic about litigating the merits of
plaintiff's claims to vindicate public shareholders' rights to decide for
themselves, free of coercion, whether or not to accept a premium offer for
their shares."

Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP is a 110-lawyer firm with main
headquarters in New York City and other offices nationwide, including Boca
Raton, FL, Wilmington, DE, Washington, D.C., Seattle, WA and Los Angeles, CA.
The firm that Melvyn I. Weiss and Lawrence Milberg founded in 1965 will
celebrate its 40th anniversary next year. The firm has been actively engaged in
defending the rights of victims of wrongdoing, emphasizing securities,
corporate, consumer, insurance, healthcare, human rights, employment
discrimination and antitrust class actions.

The firm's reputation for excellence has been recognized on repeated occasions
by courts that have appointed it to major positions in complex multi-district
or consolidated litigations. Milberg Weiss has successfully prosecuted
thousands of class action lawsuits, has taken a lead role in numerous complex
litigations on behalf of defrauded investors, consumers and companies, as well
as victims of World War II human rights violations, and has been responsible
for more than $45 billion in recoveries.  For more information, please visit
http://www.milbergweiss.com/ 

DATASOURCE: Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP



CONTACT:  Brigitte Rudman of Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP,

[phone] - office, or [phone] - mobile



Web site:  http://www.milbergweiss.com/ 

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