In the latest example of a post de-SPAC transaction electric vehicle company getting hit with a securities class action lawsuit, a plaintiff shareholder has filed a securities suit against Canoo, Inc. as well as against the former directors and officers of the SPAC into which Canoo merged in December 2020. The new lawsuit is one of many securities suits that have been filed against companies in the electric vehicle industry. The underlying circumstances may illustrate some of the pitfalls involved when a fledgling private firm becomes a publicly traded company. The plaintiff’s April 2, 2021 complaint can be found here.
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A Detailed Look at 2020 Securities Litigation Against Life Sciences Companies
In the latest edition of the law firm’s annual report, Sidley Austin takes a detailed look at important securities litigation developments in 2020 relating to life sciences companies. The report includes not only a review of life sciences companies’ securities litigation class action filings trends but also examines life sciences companies’ track record in the courts, on motions to dismiss in the district courts and on appeal. The law firm’s report, entitled “Securities Class Actions in the Life Sciences Sector: 2020 Annual Survey” can be found here. The law firm’s two-page report summary can be found here.
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ISS SCAS Report Ranks Top 50 Plaintiff’s Securities Law Firms by 2020 Settlement Values
In its latest annual study, ISS Securities Class Action Services reports that in 2020 the Robbins Geller law firm secured the highest dollar value in securities class action lawsuit settlements during the year, and also was 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 March 23, 2021 ISS SCAS report, which is entitled “The Top 50 of 2020,” can be found here.
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Guest Post: Foreign Restatements and Securities Class Action Suits
One of the more noteworthy and interesting observations emerge the 2020 year end securities class action lawsuit filing review was the finding that, while the overall number of lawsuit filings declined in 2020 relative to 2019, the number of lawsuits filed against non-U.S. U.S.-listed companies actually increased during the year. In the following guest post, Joseph Burke and John Cheffers, take a closer look at the securities lawsuit filings against non-U.S. companies and suggest some possible causes for the amount of litigation. Joe is the Senior Economist and Data Scientist at Watchdog Research, Inc. and John is Director of Research and legal counsel for Watchdog Research. This summary article is also available on Watchdog Research’s website and the full report is available on request. I would like to thank Joe and John 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 Joe and John’s article.
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Another Short Seller-Targeted Post-DeSPAC Electric Vehicle Company Hit with a Securities Suit
In a pattern that is becoming familiar, Lordstown Motors, an electric vehicle company that recently merged into a publicly traded SPAC and that was the subject of an even more recent short seller report, has been hit with a securities class action lawsuit. The defendants named include only executives of the vehicle company and do not include any former officers of the SPAC. A copy of the March 18, 2021 complaint can be found here.
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Cornerstone Research: Large Settlements Increased Total and Average 2020 Securities Suit Settlements
The number of securities class action settlements increased only slightly in 2020 compared to 2019, but the aggregate total of all 2020 securities suit settlements doubled compared to the equivalent 2019 total, largely as a result of several “mega” settlements over $100 million, according to a March 17, 2021 report from Cornerstone Research. According to the report, which is entitled “Securities Class Action Settlements: 2020 Review and Analysis,” the average securities suit settlement in 2020 was larger than in 2019, but the median 2020 settlement decreased slightly compared to the 2019 median. Cornerstone Research’s March 17, 2021 press release can be found here and the report itself can be found here.
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Electric Engine Technology Company Hit with Post De-SPAC Merger Securities Suit
In the latest example of a company that recently merged into a publicly traded SPAC getting hit with a post de-SPAC transaction securities suit, electric vehicle technology company XL Fleet Corp. has sustained a securities class action lawsuit that names as defendants both directors and officers of the post-merger operating company and a former officer of the SPAC. As discussed below, the new lawsuit shares several features in common with many of the recent SPAC-related lawsuit filings. A copy of the March 8, 2021 lawsuit can be found here.
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U.S. Securities Suit Filings Against Non-U.S. Companies Increased in 2020
One of the interesting things about the 2020 securities class action lawsuit filing numbers is that even though the overall number of securities suit filings went down in 2020, the number of securities class action lawsuits filed against non-U.S. companies actually increased during the year. The 2020 securities suit filings against non-U.S. companies are reviewed in detail in a new report from the Dechert law firm entitled “2020 Developments in U.S. Securities Fraud Class Actions Against Non-U.S. Issuers.” The March 8, 2021 report can be found here.
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ISS Releases 2020 Top 100 Securities Class Action Lawsuit Settlements List
According to the latest annual report from ISS Securities Class Action Services, there were four securities class action settlements in 2020 that were large enough to make the firm’s list of the Top 100 U.S. Securities Class Action settlements. These four settlements took place in a year in which there were a total of 99 approved monetary securities class action settlements totaling $3.26 billion The details of the settlements included the four largest can be found in the ISS SCAS report entitled “The Top 100 U.S. Class Action Settlements of All-Time,” here.
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Electric Car Technology Company Hit with Post-deSPAC Securities Lawsuit
Regular readers know that I have been tracking new securities class action lawsuits filed related to SPACs and SPAC transactions. In the latest of these suits — a securities class action lawsuit filed against a company that was acquired by a SPAC in September 2020 — a plaintiff shareholder has filed a securities suit against the company relating to post-transaction board actions taken against senior company officials. The complaint in the securities class action lawsuit filed on March 2, 2021 against Velodyne Lydar, Inc. can be found here. Also, please note the further discussion below relating to yet another recent SPAC-related securities lawsuit, as well.
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