Petro-Ventures, Inc. v. Takessian

967 F.2d 1337 Fed. Sec. L. Rep. P 96,842 PETRO-VENTURES, INC., an Oklahoma corporation, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Gary G. TAKESSIAN, an individual, Defendant-Appellee, Stephen R. Vrable, N. Russell Walden, and Wayne Hamersly, Intervenors-Appellees. No. 90-55349. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Jan. 9, 1992. Decided June 22, 1992. Benjamin T. Willey, Willey & Shoemaker, Oklahoma City, Okl., for plaintiff-appellant. John S. Einhorn, San Diego, Cal., for defendant-appellee. Maureen Folan, Hoge, Fenton, Jones & Appel, San Jose, Cal., for intervenors-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Before: POOLE, WIGGINS, and LEAVY, Circuit Judges. LEAVY, Circuit Judge: 1 We decide the validity of a release of all unknown claims in the context of a settlement of ongoing litigation, where potential violations of federal securities laws were later discovered. The general rule in this circuit is that "[a] release is valid for purposes of a federal securities claim only if [there was] 'actual knowledge' that such claims existed." Burgess v. Premier Corp., 727 F.2d 826, 831-32 (9th Cir.1984) (citation…