Congressional fact-finding hearings are generally unedifying spectacles, involving as they do the weird rite of ritual public witness humiliation and accomplishing little except the suggestion of troubling questions about the kind of person who manages to get elected to Congress. Some might say that the series of hearings about Wall Street and the Financial Crisis recently launched
A Failed Bank Securities Lawsuit Dismissal Motion Ruling for Plaintiffs
As the number of failed banks has mounted in the last couple of years, the question that has arisen is whether the FDIC will pursue claims against the directors and officers of the failed institutions. While we are still waiting to see what the FDIC will do, private litigants have been moving forward. In particular
Advisen Releases Analysis of First Quarter Securities Litigation
On April 14, 2010, the insurance information firm Advisen released its analysis of first quarter 2010 securities litigation filings and trends. The quarterly report, which is entitled "Securities Suits Ease Back to Normal Following a Frantic Two Years," can be accessed here. As detailed below, the Advisen report concludes that the securities lawsuit filing
The “Vexing” Question of Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (Corrected Version)
Editor’s Note: The corrected post is being republished to remedy an error in the prior email notification. The National Australia Bank case now awaiting decision before the United States Supreme Court raises what the Second Circuit in that same case called "the vexing question of the extraterritorial application of the [U.S.] securities laws." But while we
Outside Director Exposure for Disclosure Violations
From time to time, the SEC reiterates its view of the critical role companies’ outside directors play in safeguarding investors’ interests. Nevertheless, it has been relatively rare for SEC to pursue enforcement actions against outside directors based on an alleged failure to fulfill that role, at least in connection with disclosure violations. A recent enforcement
The Latest on Life Science Companies and Securities Litigation
As the various year-end securities litigation studies have all shown, cases against financial services companies have dominated securities lawsuit filings for the last several years. But throughout that period, the plaintiffs’ attorneys have also continued to pursue claims against companies in other industries, particularly companies in the life sciences sector. A recent memorandum from David
Surge in Rulings in Subprime-Related Securities Cases Continues
The sudden upsurge in the number of subprime and credit crisis-related securities lawsuit dismissal motion rulings, noted in yesterday’s post, is continuing. As outlined below, courts in four separate cases also recently issued rulings. Each of the cases involved ’33 Act claims brought by purchasers of mortgage-backed securities. In each case, a part of the
PwC Issues 2009 Securities Litigation Study
On April 6, 2010, PricewaterhouseCoopers issued this year’s version of its annual study of securities class action litigation (here). The PwC report differs in certain particulars from previously released studies of the 2009 securities lawsuit filings, but the overall findings are directionally consistent with the prior reports. PwC’s April 1. 2010 press release
A Cascade of Subprime Securities Suit Dismissal Motion Rulings
I was only away from the office for a few days last week, but while I was away, an absolute cascade of dismissal motion rulings in subprime and credit crisis-related securities cases arrived. A number of the rulings were sufficiently favorable to the defendants that Alison Frankel commented in an April 1, 2010 article in
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Last week (of March 29, 2010), I changed the service I use to distribute my email notifications. My hope is that this new email distribution service will provide subscribers with more timely and more reliable email notifications. In order to ensure continued receipt of email notification, subscribers will need to reconfirm their subscription.
On Monday