''United States v. Winstar Corp.'', 518 U.S. 839 (1996), was a decision by the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

which held that the

United States Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

had breached its contractual obligations. The court in ''Winstar'' rejected the Government's "unmistakability defense"—that surrenders of sovereign authority, such as the promise to refrain from regulatory changes, must appear in unmistakable terms in a contract in order to be enforceable.. ''Winstar'' arose as a consequence of the savings and loan crisis. Federal regulators had allowed "supervisory goodwill" to be counted as regulatory capital for financial institutions that took over failing thrifts. Congress later passed the

Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA), is a United States federal law enacted in the wake of the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s. It established the Resolution Trust Corporation to close hundreds o ...

, which substantially changed these advantages and one of the successor banks successfully sued. The

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the U.S. federal court ...

found a breach of contract and awarded damages—the Supreme Court upheld the lower court decision. "Winstar" cases resulted in multimillion-dollar payouts to plaintiffs. As of July 31, 2000, there were 13 settlements or judgments totaling $1.158 billion against the federal government, with more than 100 more cases pending, as a result of the Winstar decision. Winstar Corporation and its subsidiary United Federal Savings Bank was successfully represented by

Charles J. Cooper Charles J. "Chuck" Cooper (born March 8, 1952 in Dayton, Ohio) is an appellate attorney and litigator in Washington, D.C., where he is a founding member and chairman of the law firm Cooper & Kirk, PLLC. He was named by ''The National Law Jou ...

. The board of United Federal Savings Bank consisted of chairman E. Ted Yoch, and directors Kenneth Bureau, Howard Rekstad, Gary Nordness, and William Bartolic. The decision makes clear that th
Stipulation and Consent to Issuance of Order of Prohibition
against United's board was improperly required by the Government.

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* United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court Savings and loan crisis United States banking case law 1996 in United States case law {{SCOTUS-stub

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