It has been more than four months since we last had to update the options backdating numbers. With the settlement this week of litigation involving alleged options backdating at Quest Software, Inc., (NASDAQ: QSFT) for $29.4 million, it's time to crunch the numbers once more.

Of the 39 options backdating cases that have been filed as securities class actions, 29 have now reached a resolution. Of the resolved cases, 9 of those cases have been dismissed and 20 have settled. This is still in line with historical trends, where settlements outnumber dismissals by approximately 2 to 1.

The twenty settlements total $1.55 billion, for an average of $77.8 million. But, removing the largest settlement (UnitedHealth Group) lowers the average back to $33.23 million.

As we have previously noted, the options backdating cases have settled more quickly on average, than other cases. The twenty cases have settled in an average of 634 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 18 cases to 599 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.