May 2009

As the early returns have slowly accumulated for the subprime and credit crisis-related securities lawsuits, the question has arisen (refer here for example) whether or not these cases are faring poorly, in light of the numerous dismissal motions that have been granted thus far. Many of these dismissals have been granted, however, with leave to

By now, it is well-established that the recent heightened securities lawsuit filing activity has been largely concentrated in the financial sector. However, litigation involving companies in other sectors has by no means gone away. In addition, recent filings suggest that while the plaintiffs’ lawyers have been concentrating on the financial sector, a backlog of actions

On May 7, 2009, a jury in the Northern District of Illinois entered a mixed verdict finding in plaintiffs’ favor on several counts in the Household International securities fraud securities class action lawsuit, a long-running case with overtones of the current subprime meltdown. Background regarding the case can be found here.

The verdict

Though the subprime and credit crisis-related securities litigation wave is now well into its third year, relatively few of the cases have yet settled or otherwise finally been resolved. However, the parties to one of the securities lawsuits filed in the earliest stages of the litigation wave have announced that they have settled the case

As the subprime meltdown has become a more generalized economic crisis, the adverse consequences have moved far beyond the residential real estate sector where the trouble first began. Until recently, however, the worst effects were concentrated in the financial sector. But as Chrysler’s recent bankruptcy filing shows, the turmoil is no longer limited to the

Securities class action lawsuits filings are on pace to make 2009 the most active for securities class action filings in years, according to Advisen’s May 1, 2009 Securities Litigation Quarterly (here). According to the report, there were 67 securities class action lawsuits in the first quarter of 2009, up from 56 a year