The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has shared its plans of appealing a NSW Supreme Court decision to dismiss its civil case against Jodee Rich and Mark Silbermann, former executives of Tel. One, fueling speculations that another lengthy legal battle might be on its way.

On Thursday, the ASIC confirmed that it has lodged a "notice of intention" to appeal in the NSW Court of Appeal.

While completely dismissing ASIC's case on November 18, Justice Robert Austin had stated that the agency had "failed to prove any aspect of its pleaded case against either defendant". What ASIC was looking for was a ruling from the court on "duties and obligations of officers to disclose a company's financial position to the board and the market".

The case turned out to be one of the longest civil trials the NSW had ever seen. It ran for around 8 years, took 232 sitting days and resulted in 16,642 pages of transcripts. ASIC was looking for $92 Million in damages and a ban on Mr. Rich and Mr. Silbermann for 10 years from the company's board.

The ruling, when it finally came, was against ASIC, which was ordered to reimburse the executives for their legal costs, and the agency itself drew up a legal bill of an estimated $20 Million.

Now, ASIC has been given until February 27, 2010, to start its appeal against the HC's decision.