One of the key considerations related securities class action litigation risk is company size as measured by market capitalization. In the following guest post, John Cheffers details this relation between company size and securities class action litigation risk. John is Associate Counsel and Director of Research for Watchdog Research. I would like to thank John for allowing me to publish his 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 John’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Analyzing Securities Class Actions by Size
On April 12, 2021, when John Coates, the acting director of the SEC Division of Corporate Finance, and Paul Munter, the SEC’s acting chief accountant, 
When the U.S. Supreme Court granted the petition for a writ of certiorari to take up class certification questions raised in the long-running Goldman Sachs securities class action lawsuit, 
In a very interesting June 16, 2021 opinion, the Ninth Circuit has reversed in part the district court’s dismissal of the privacy and cybersecurity-related securities class action lawsuit filed against Google- parent Alphabet, Inc, relating the company’s discovery of and decision not to disclose a software vulnerability that exposed user data of nearly half a million users of the Google+ social media site. The appellate court’s decision, a copy of which can be found 
Shortly after Marriott International’s November 2018 announcement that it had uncovered a data breach in the guest registration system of Starwood (which Marriott had acquired two years earlier), the company was hit with a raft of litigation, including both securities class action lawsuits and shareholder derivative lawsuits. In twin June 11, 2021 opinions, the federal district judge presiding over the various Marriott data breach-related lawsuits granted the defendants’ motions to dismiss both the consolidated securities suits and the consolidated derivative suits. The lengthy and detailed opinions make for interesting reading and underscore the challenge plaintiffs face in trying to turn a cybersecurity incident into a D&O claim. The opinion in the securities suit can be found 
There have been several investment fads and mass enthusiasms this year that have been agitating the financial markets, but amidst the froth the fizziest speculative investments on the scene are non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This new asset class uses blockchain technology to track tokens that are attached to verify the authenticity of everything from artwork to sports highlights. The boosters of these assets have mined the enthusiasm for collectibles to drive sky-rocketing asset values for NFTs. With this new type of asset attracting so much attention and activity, it arguably should come as no surprise that the backers promoting NFTs have attracted litigation as well.
When senior SEC staff issued a statement in April saying that most warrants issued by SPACs should be treated as liabilities rather than as equity, it 
A cybersecurity incident earlier this year at the technology company Ubiquiti has given rise to a securities class action lawsuit against the company and two of its executives. The lawsuit is the latest example of the D&O risk exposure relating to cybersecurity. As discussed below, the lawsuit’s allegation illustrates that the way that a company handles bad news can be an important litigation risk factor. A copy of the May 19, 2021 securities lawsuit complaint against Ubiquiti can be found 
In the latest securities class action lawsuit involving a company that recently became publicly traded through a merger with a SPAC, a biodegradable plastics company and certain of its directors and officers have been hit with securities suit following media reports questioning the company’s claims about the biodegradability of its products. The company, Danimer Scientific, is one of several recently sued companies that completed a SPAC merger in December 2020. A copy of the May 14, 2021 complaint against Danimer can be found