It has been just one week since we last updated the options backdating numbers. With the recently noticed (hey we're not perfect) settlement last month of litigation involving alleged options backdating at Sonic Solutions, Inc., (NASDAQ: SNIC) for $5 million, it's time to crunch the numbers once more.

Of the 39 options backdating cases that have been filed as securities class actions, 30 have now reached a resolution. Of the resolved cases, 9 of those cases have been dismissed and 21 have settled. This is still in line with historical trends, where settlements outnumber dismissals by approximately 2 to 1.

The twenty one settlements total $1.56 billion, for an average of $74.38 million. But, removing the largest settlement (UnitedHealth Group) lowers the average back to $31.82 million. As could have been expected the averages are slowly creeping down over time, as the UnitedHealth settlement can now be viewed as a fairly clear example of an outlier in terms of the size of the settlement.

As we have previously noted, the options backdating cases have settled more quickly on average, than other cases. The twenty one cases have settled in an average of 639 days. Removing the two outliers, Mercury Interactive, and Brocade, which were filed earlier and added the options backdating allegations in a later amended complaint, drops the average time from filing of initial complaint to tentative settlement for the remaining 19 cases to 606 days. The numbers have been slowly creeping up as the remaining cases linger, but the average is still below historical levels.

As always, our complete analysis can be accessed in this presentation.

Oh, and in our defense, the plaintiffs did not issues a press release on the settlement and the company only disclosed it in their recently filed 10-Q.

Thanks to Kevin LaCroix over at The D&O Diary for pointing out the Sonic settlement to us.