Max Wistow, the lead attorney for the Rhode Island Commerce Corp., told a state Senate hearing yesterday that 38 Studios' recoverable resources are "being eaten up very rapidly," according to the Associated Press.
Wistow believes that the defendants' insurance policies could be leverged to pay costs outside of the policy limits. The Providence Journal reports that the attorney pointed to precedents which helped settle past lawsuits.
"But for the passage of the statute enabling this type of settlement, those cases would not have been settled. We feel very strongly that this would be very beneficial."
The urgency Wistow espoused appears to come from the belief that the longer it takes to resolve the lawsuit, the less capital will be recovered.
The AP also reports that Rhode Island lawmakers are considering legislation "designed to encourage settlement talks," intended to protect those who settle "from a lawsuit filed by a co-defendant over damages that co-defendant is found liable for."
38 Studios collapsed in 2012 following losses at the developer amounting to $133 million. The studio's founder, former RedSox player Curt Schilling, and others both at the studio and in the Rhode Island Commerce Corp. have been accused of fraud for manipulating 38 Studios' financies and manipulating state officials into loaning the developer $75 million.
Last month, no buyers were found for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – 38 Studios' only released game – during its initial offering.
