Securities Litigation

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According to the latest annual report from ISS Securities Class Action Services, there were four court-approved securities class action settlements in 2024 large enough to make the firm’s list of the Top 100 U.S. Securities Class Action settlements. These settlements took place in a year in which there were 136 court-approved monetary securities class action lawsuit settlements totaling over $4.7 billion. The details of the 2024 court approved settlements, including with respect to the four largest during the year, can be found in the ISS Securities Class Action Services report entitled “The Top 100 U.S. Class Action Settlements of All-Time” (as of December 31, 2024), here.Continue Reading ISS Releases Top 100 Securities Suit Settlements List

The filing of Opioid-related securities litigation is not a new development; indeed, more than six years ago, I published a post in which I noted the outbreak at the time of a number of opioid-related securities suits against opioid drug companies. Now, in the latest opioid-related securities suits to be filed, and in the wake of the U.S. Department of Justice’s filing of a False Claims Act complaint against the company, a plaintiff shareholder has filed an opioid-related securities class action lawsuit against Walgreens Boots Alliance. A copy of the January 30, 2025, complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Walgreens Boots Alliance Hit with Opioid-Related Securities Suit

According to the latest report from Cornerstone Research, the number of federal and state securities class action lawsuits filed increased in 2024 for the second year in a row, to the highest level since 2020, even though the overall number of liability actions filings under the ’33 Act declined to the lowest level in the last ten years. As discussed below, a more detailed analysis of the 2024 securities class action lawsuit filing figures suggests that the 2024 filing activity was elevated compared to both recent and longer-term historical levels. The January 29, 2025, report, which was written in conjunction with the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse, and which is entitled “Securities Class Action Filings: 2024 Year in Review,” can be found here. Cornerstone Research’s January 29, 2025 press release about the report can be found here.Continue Reading Cornerstone Research: Securities Suit Filings Increased in 2024

In my recent round-up of the top D&O stories of 2024, I noted as one of the key current issues the emergence of geopolitical issues as a source of D&O risk. Among other geopolitical concerns I speculated might contribute to this risk are anti-money laundering (AML) laws. Earlier this month, in the latest example of how AML issues can translate into a D&O claim, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities class action lawsuit against the money transfer technology company Block and certain of its executives, based on allegations that the company’s failure to maintain basic AML protocols had created a “haven for criminal and illicit activities,” allegedly contrary to the company’s representations. A copy of the January 17, 2025, complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Alleged Anti-Money Laundering Law Violations Leads to Securities Lawsuit

According to the latest annual report from NERA, and based on NERA’s inclusive counting methodology, the number of federal securities class action lawsuits was flat in 2024 relative to 2023, but the number of “traditional” securities class action suits increased in 2024 for the second year in a row. In addition, the number of case resolutions (including both settlements and dismissals), increased in 2024, reversing a six-year decline in the number of resolutions. NERA’s January 22, 2025 report entitled “Recent Trends in Securities Class Action Litigation: 2024 Full-Year Review,” can be found here.Continue Reading NERA Reports Securities Suit Filings Level, Dismissals Increased in 2024

After the 2021 peak of the SPAC IPO frenzy, many SPACs wound up liquidating, while another significant tranche of the SPACs (or the SPACs post-merger successor companies) wound up in litigation. The post-frenzy glut of SPAC-related lawsuits has since been making its way through the courts ever since, and some have made it to the settlement stage. In recent days, the parties to two of these SPAC-related lawsuits have reached noteworthy settlements. As discussed below, the two settlements – the Alta Mesa SPAC-related lawsuit settled for $126.3 million and the Grab Holdings SPAC-related lawsuit settled for $80 million – are among the largest ever SPAC-related lawsuit settlements and could potentially set standards for future SPAC lawsuit settlements. The two settlements are subject to court approval.Continue Reading Record-Setting Settlements in Two SPAC-Related Securities Suits

In prior posts, I have noted the phenomenon of securities class action lawsuit filings following in the wake of antitrust enforcement actions (most recently here). A new securities lawsuit filed just before year-end presents an interesting new variation on this sequence. The new lawsuit, filed against both Capri Holdings Limited and Tapestry, Inc., two high-fashion firms, and certain of their executives, relates back to an enforcement action the FTC filed against the firms to block their plans to merge. As discussed below, the lawsuit involves several interesting features. A copy of the plaintiff’s December 23, 2024, complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Securities Suit Follows After Antitrust Ruling Bars Firms’ Merger Plans

The number of federal court securities class action lawsuit filings increased in 2024 for the second year in a row, to the highest level since 2020. The increased number of federal court securities suit filings during the past year is due to several factors, including continuing filings relating to ongoing trends such as new lawsuit filings relating to SPACs, COVID-related suits, and cryptocurrencies, as discussed further below.Continue Reading Federal Court Securities Class Action Lawsuit Filings Increased in 2024

At the outset of the current U.S. Supreme Court term, corporate and securities law observers and commentators were excited that the Court had agreed to take up two securities law cases that had significant potential to provide insights about securities lawsuit pleading standards and processes. However, as noted here, in November, the court dismissed…

The current Supreme Court term promised to be an interesting one from a securities law standpoint, as the Court had agreed to take up two cases dealing with key securities class action litigation issues. One of those cases is the securities case involving the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica’s user data scandal. The Facebook case would have required the Court to address an important and recurring disclosure related issue. However, on November 22, 2024, the Court issued a single-line order stating that “the writ of certiorari is dismissed as improvidently granted,” meaning that the Supreme Court’s consideration of the Facebook case will now not go forward, and the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in the case, in which the appellate court reversed in part the district court’s dismissal of the case, will now stand. A copy of the Supreme Court’s November 22, 2024, order can be found here.Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Dismisses Facebook Case, Saying Writ Improvidently Granted