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held by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to constitute
fraud on the Court and, hence, to justify entitlement by the
litigants remaining before the Court to the benefits of the
Thompson settlement as we finally determine and apply them. Here
petitioners, although aware of the predicate facts, deliberately
gave up any right to participate in the benefits of that
settlement. Because of their decision to settle, petitioners’
legal situation decisively differs from that of the other
Kersting project petitioners who rejected or failed to respond to
respondent’s posttrial settlement offer. By settling as they
did, petitioners reduced their proposed deficiencies, eliminated
all additions, stopped the further accrual of interest against
them by paying the reduced deficiencies, and put an end to their
participation in litigation that, to date, has lasted more than
12 years beyond the date they chose to settle. When they did so,
they also assumed the risk that, as a result of the appeals
pending when they chose to settle, other Kersting project
petitioners might become entitled to a more favorable outcome.
We conclude that petitioners’ stipulated decisions are
final, inasmuch as petitioners agreed to those decisions with the
advice of experienced counsel. At the time of the settlements,
their counsel, who signed the decision documents, were aware of
the misconduct that ultimately led the Court of Appeals to decide
that such misconduct constituted fraud on the court. Their
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