From this week’s news, it almost appears as if there had been some kind of an unannounced competition for most outrageously fraudulent or corrupt scheme. First, there was Marc Dreier’s incredibly brazen plot to peddle bogus notes to hedge funds using assumed identities. Then there was Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s apparent attempt to flog Barrack
Securities Litigation: More than Just Subprime
As the year end approaches, various commentators will be issuing their retrospectives on the year’s securities litigation activity. The lead story undoubtedly will be that the wave of subprime and credit crisis-related lawsuits continued to flood in during the year. With some 94 new subprime and credit crisis related securities lawsuits so far in 2008
Forum Selection and ’33 Act Subprime Lawsuits
As I have previously noted (here), one of the significant procedural developments in the subprime securities litigation wave has been the plaintiffs’ apparent interest in pursuing ’33 Act subprime-related lawsuits in state court. Section 22(a) of the ’33 Act expressly provides that the federal court’s jurisdiction for ’33 Act lawsuits is "concurrent with
D&O Insurance: New York Regulator Decrees D&O Duty to Defend
In a deeply troublesome decision, the New York Department of Insurance has issued an October 16, 2008 opinion (here) stating that "a D&O policy may not include a provision that places the duty to defend upon the insured, rather than the insurer." A December 5, 2008 memo (here) written by Carrie Cope
Knock Yourselves Out, Investors
All litigants face the challenge of managing lawsuit expenses and exposures. The Reserve Primary Fund investor litigation defendants have crafted a novel approach to addressing these challenges – they apparently intend to finance their defense as well as any indemnity out of funds due to investors — that is, the funds of the very people on whose
“New Wave” Credit Crisis Lawsuit with Subprime Overtones
In a recent post (here), I described the "new wave" of credit crisis lawsuits, in which the companies involved were damaged by their exposures to other companies experiencing credit crisis losses. The latest of these new wave lawsuits to be filed involves the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation, or "Farmer Mac" as it
Dismissal Denied in New Century Subprime Lawsuit
Following closely on the heels of the denial of the motion to dismiss in the Countrywide case earlier this week (about which refer here), on December 3, 2008, Judge Dean Pregerson of the Central District of California issued an opinion (here) denying the defendants’ motions to dismiss in the New Century Financial
The Evolving Credit Crisis Litigation Wave
In an earlier post (here), I suggested that the credit crisis litigation wave had reached an inflection point, and in subsequent posts, I identified additional "new wave" credit crisis lawsuits.
The exact contours of this "new wave" is admittedly amorphous, but the basic concept is that it involves, first, companies that
Have Section 11 Filings Increased?
Has the "due diligence" standard articulated in the WorldCom securities litigation produced an increase in the Section 11 litigation? That is the question addressed in David J. Michaels’s November 29, 2008 paper entitled "An Empirical Study of Securities Litigation After World Com" (here).
In this post, I review the analysis based upon
Republication: Countrywide Securities Suit Dismissal Motions Substantially Denied
In order to remedy the faulty link in the email distribution notice for today’s post about the Countrywide subprime-related securities class action lawsuit, I have republished the post, which can be found here.
I apologize for any inconvenience that the faulty link in the prior email may have caused.