A federal district court recently considered whether claims brought by investors in a bankrupt hedge fund against a lender for allegedly aiding and abetting the fund manager’s breach of fiduciary duty and fraud against the hedge fund should be permitted to proceed.  The fundamental question at issue was whether the investors’ claims were direct claims that should be permitted to proceed or derivative claims that should have been brought by the hedge fund and therefore should be dismissed.  For another discussion of derivative suits in the hedge fund context, see “U.S. District Court Holds That Hedge Fund Investors Do Not Have Standing to Bring a Direct, As Opposed to Derivative, Claim against Hedge Fund Auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP,” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 3, No. 47 (Dec. 3, 2010).  This article summarizes the factual and procedural background of the case as well as the court’s legal analysis and decision.