Securities Litigation

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Earlier this week, securities class action lawsuits were filed against the recently failed U.S. banks, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The turmoil that surrounded those banks’ failure sent ripples into the global banking industry; one of the institutions particularly affected by the ensuing turbulence was the European banking giant, Credit Suisse. After a series of events at the bank earlier this week (described below), the company’s share price tanked, the Swiss banking regulator extended the bank a financial lifeline – and the bank was hit with a securities class action lawsuit, the third this week involving a bank caught up in the sudden wave of banking industry disorder. The new lawsuit filed on March 16, 2023, against Credit Suisse can be found here.Continue Reading Now It’s Credit Suisse’s Turn: Swiss Bank Hit with Securities Suit

By Monday morning of this week, two banks had failed in quick sequence, including the very high-profile collapse last week of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and the closure over the weekend of Signature Bank. SVB got hit with a securities class action lawsuit yesterday, so what had to happen next? Why, a securities suit against Signature Bank, of course. On Tuesday morning, the same plaintiffs’ law firm that sued SVB on Monday filed a separate securities class action lawsuit against Signature Bank and three of its executives. How much further any of this goes from here is the question on everyone’s minds. A copy of the Signature Bank complaint can be found here.Continue Reading SVB Got Sued, So, What Next? A Suit Against Signature Bank, Of Course

The total number of securities class action lawsuit settlements reached the highest level in 15 years in 2022, and median, average, and aggregate settlement amounts also rose significantly in 2022 compared to the year prior, according a recently published annual report from Cornerstone Research. The report, entitled “Securities Class Action Settlements: 2022 Review and Analysis,” analyzes the 105 securities class action lawsuit settlements finalized in 2022 and compares them statistically with prior years’ settlements. The report can be found here. Cornerstone Research’s March 8, 2023, press release about the report can be found here.Continue Reading Cornerstone Research: Securities Suit Settlements at High Levels in 2022

In my year-end wrap up of the top D&O stories of 2022, I noted the possibilities that various macroeconomic factors could contribute to securities class action lawsuit filings in the months ahead. One of the specific factors I identified was economic inflation. In subsequent conversations, I have been asked how an economy-wide phenomenon such as inflation could lead to a securities suit against any one individual company. A lawsuit filed earlier this week provides an illustration of how the inflationary impacts can translate into securities litigation. A copy of the March 1, 2023 complaint in the lawsuit, filed against coffee retailer and franchisor Dutch Bros Inc., can be found here.Continue Reading Inflation Undercuts Company’s Financial Results, Leads to Securities Suit

The number of securities class action lawsuits filed against life sciences companies in 2022 declined compared to 2021 but remained relatively steady as a proportion of the total number of securities class action lawsuits filed during the year, according to a new report from the Dechert law firm. The report, entitled “Dechert Survey 2022 Edition: Developments in Securities Fraud Class Actions Against U.S. Life Sciences Companies,” states that there were a total of 43 securities suits filed against life sciences companies in 2022, compared to 59 in 2021. The Dechert law firm’s February 23, 2023 press release about the report, which links to the full report,  can be found here.Continue Reading Life Sciences Companies Remained Frequent Securities Suit Targets in 2022

In its latest annual report, ISS Securities Class Action Services reports that in 2022, for the third year in a row, the Robbins Geller law firm secured the highest dollar value in securities class action lawsuit settlements during the year and was also involved in the highest number of separate settlements. The report, which includes both U.S. and Canadian settlements, ranks the top 50 plaintiffs law firms by total dollar value recoveries, and the Top Ten plaintiffs law firms ranked by number of settlements achieved. The February 28, 2023, report, which is entitled “The Top 50 of 2022” and was written by Jeff Lubitz, Managing Director, ISS Securities Class Action Services, can be found here.Continue Reading Report Ranks Top 50 Plaintiffs’ Firms by 2022 Securities Suit Settlement Values

As I noted in my recent year-end round up of the top D&O stories of 2022, one of the important trends last year was the volume of SPAC-related D&O litigation. Now, in what is the first SPAC-related securities suit of 2023, a plaintiff shareholder has launched a SPAC-related securities suit against satellite company Terran Orbital, related to the company’s March 2022 merger with a publicly-traded SPAC. Although the new lawsuit reflects the ongoing trend of SPAC-related lawsuit filings, the new lawsuit also has some unusual features, as discussed below. The February 17, 2023, complaint in the lawsuit can be found here.Continue Reading First SPAC-Related Securities Suit Filing of 2023

Through reforms enacted in the PSLRA, Congress intended for lead plaintiffs and courts to exercise some control over the plaintiffs’ law firms that pursue securities class action lawsuits. The securities laws also require courts to determine the amount of plaintiffs’ counsel’s fee awards. Yet, as the authors of recent academic paper suggest, the lead plaintiffs and the courts often lack the tools they need to execute these functions.

To try to derive the kinds of information that would allow lead plaintiffs and courts to fulfill their intended roles, the authors reviewed case records of thousands of cases, as a way to identify important indica of law firm performance as well as to extract detailed information about the fee awards. With the benefit of this information, the authors — Professor Stephen Choi of the New York University Law School, Professor Jessica Erickson of the University of Richmond Law School, and Professor Adam Pritchard of the University of Michigan Law School – suggest a variety of ways that lead plaintiffs and courts can better serve their intended functions under the PSLRA. The authors’ February 2023 paper, entitled “The Business of Securities Class Action Lawyering,” can be found here.Continue Reading The Plaintiffs’ Law Firms’ Securities Litigation Business

Jeff Lubitz
Jarett Sena

In the following guest post, Jeff Lubitz, Managing Director, ISS Securities Class Action Services, and Jarett Sena, Director of Litigation Analysis, ISS Securities Class Action Services, take a look at the recent jury verdict in the securities class action lawsuit investors filed against Tesla CEO Elon Musk about his infamous “take private” tweet. I would like to thank Jeff and Jarett for allowing me to publish their article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Jeff and Jarett’s guest post.Continue Reading Guest Post: Musk & Tesla Win Rare Securities Class Action Trial

In my recent round-up of the top D&O stories of 2022, one of the stories I identified was the contribution of macroeconomic factors to the filings of securities class action lawsuits during the year. Among the macroeconomic factors I identified, beyond interest rate increases, economic inflation, and supply chain disruption, was the disruption to the labor force following, or perhaps resulting from, the pandemic. A recently filed securities suit shows how these kinds of factors can translate into securities litigation.Continue Reading Labor Supply Disruption Contributes to Recently Filed Securities Suit