Aggregate and average securities class action lawsuit settlements increased significantly in 2015 compared to the year before, according to the latest annual report from Cornerstone Research. Among reasons for the increase in aggregate settlement amounts is the increase in the absolute number of settlements during the year. The increase in the average settlement amount is largely attributable to an increase in the number of “mega” settlements. While overall and average settlement amounts increased during the year, the number of smaller settlements also increased, and median settlement amounts held steady. The Cornerstone Research report, entitled “Securities Class Action Settlements: 2015 Review and Analysis,” can be found here. Cornerstone Research’s March 29, 2016 press release about the report can be found here.
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Guest Post: Second Circuit Ruling in Sanofi Narrowly Interprets Omnicare
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s March 24, 2015 opinion in Omnicare, Inc. v. Laborers District Council Construction Industry Pension Fund (here), there was a great deal of speculation about what the decision’s practical impact would be and how the case would be applied in the lower courts. On March 4, 2016, the Second Circuit issued an important opinion in Tongue v. Sanofi (here) interpreting and applying Omnicare. In the following guest post, the Paul Weiss law firm take a look at the Sanofi decision and discuss Second Circuit’s narrow interpretation and application of Omnicare, and the Second Circuit’s holding that issuers need not disclose information merely because it cuts against their opinions or projections. I would like to thank the attorneys from Paul Weiss for their willingness to publish their article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is the Paul Weiss attorneys’ guest post.
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Field Notes on Recent Corporate Suit Filing Trends
As part of our beat here at The D&O Diary
, we regularly monitor new lawsuit filings and try to identify trends and patterns. Over the years, we have noted and commented on this blog about many of the trends and patterns we have identified. More than once we have noted the incidence of director and officer liability litigation arising out of environmental issues. We have also noted that D&O litigation often follows after the announcement of FCPA investigations. As discussed below, there has been a flurry of recent filings involving environmental issues. I have also noted below an interesting variant on the FCPA follow-on civil lawsuit pattern.
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Guest Post: Year in Review: Securities Litigation
This past year was an eventful one in the corporate and securities litigation arena, with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Omnicare case, important rulings in the lower courts applying the Supreme Court’s Halliburton II decision, and a host of other important decision on critical securities law issues. In the following memorandum from the Haynes and Boone law firm, attorneys from the firm’s Securities and Shareholder Litigation group take a look at the important securities litigation developments during 2015. I would like to thank the firm and the group for their willingness to publish their memorandum on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to readers of this site. Please contact me directly if you are interested in submitting a guest post. Here is the Haynes and Boone firm’s memorandum.
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Each year our Year in Review comments on significant securities-related decisions by the Supreme Court, federal appellate courts and district courts, notes key developments in SEC enforcement, and summarizes significant rulings in state law fiduciary litigation against directors and officers of public companies.
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Securities Suit Frequency Means Challenging D&O Insurance Market for Life Sciences Companies
In 2015, as was the case for several years prior, companies in the life sciences sector experienced a disproportionately greater number of securities class action lawsuits than companies in other industries. As I detailed in my analysis of 2015 securities class action lawsuit filings (here), 39 of the 191 securities class action lawsuits filed in 2015 involved companies in the life sciences sector, representing about one in five of all securities suit filings during the year. No other sector experienced anywhere near this number of securities class action lawsuit flings. For example, the sector with the second-most number of filings, software companies, had eleven filings during 2015, representing about 6% of securities suit filings during the year.
There are a number of reasons why there are more securities suit filings involving life sciences companies, as discussed below. The frequency and severity of lawsuits against companies in the life sciences sector have important D&O Insurance implications as well, as also discussed below.
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Cornerstone Research: U.S.-Listed Companies’ Securities Suit Susceptibility at Record High Levels in 2015
Not only were securities class action lawsuit filings in 2015 at their highest levels since 2008, but the likelihood that a U.S.-listed company would get hit with a securities suit was at the highest level at any time since the PSLRA was enacted, according to the latest annual report from Cornerstone Research. Cornerstone Research’s report, issued in conjunction with the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse and entitled “Securities Class Action Filings: 2015 Year in Review,” can be found here. Cornerstone Research’s January 26, 2016 press release about the report can be found here. My own analysis of the 2015 securities class action lawsuit filings can be found here.
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NERA Report: 2015 Securities Class Action Filings at Highest Level Since 2008
Securities class action lawsuit filings in 2015 were at their highest level since 2008, according to the latest annual report from NERA Economic Consulting. The report also states that not only as the number of lawsuits filed increased in 2015, but the rate of lawsuit filings relative to the number of publicly traded companies has also increased compared to historic levels as well. The report entitled “Recent Trends in Securities Class Action Litigation: 2015 Full-Year Review,” can be found here. NERA’s January 25, 2016 press release describing the report can be found here. My own analysis of the 2015 securities class action filings can be found here.
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Merck Agrees to Settle Long-Running Vioxx-Related Securities Class Action Lawsuit for $830 Million
In my recent review of the past year’s top D&O stories, I noted the current trend toward increased numbers of securities class action lawsuits involving smaller companies, and also towards smaller securities suit settlements. In the midst of this era of generally smaller cases and settlements has now come a huge settlement reminiscent of earlier time – perhaps because it involves a lawsuit that is itself a vestige of another era. On January 15, 2016, Merck announced that it had reached an $830 million settlement of the long-running Vioxx-related securities class action lawsuit. This case, whose extended procedural history included a trip all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to address statute of limitations issues, has been pending since November 2003. The proposed settlement is subject to court approval. Merck’s January 15, 2016 press release about the settlement can be found here.
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Blog Post Statements Held Actionable Under the Federal Securities Laws
We are all used to seeing securities class action lawsuit alleging that the defendants made misrepresentations or omissions in SEC filings, press releases, or in public statements. But how about in a corporate blog post? In a very interesting December 23, 2015 opinion in the Rocket Fuel securities class action lawsuit in which she mostly granted the defendants’ motions to dismiss, Northern District of California Judge Phyllis Hamilton held that certain allegedly misleading statements made in a post on the company’s website were actionable under the federal securities laws. Judge Hamilton’s opinion also includes a number of interesting conclusions about individual and corporate scienter, and loss causation. Her opinion also addresses interesting Securities Act pleading issues in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 opinion in the Omnicare case. Judge Hamilton’s opinion can be found here.
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U.S. Securities Class Action Lawsuit Filings in 2015 at Highest Level in Years
The number of securities class action lawsuits filed in 2015 rose to the highest annual level in several years. As detailed below, a number of factors contributed to the increase in securities class action lawsuit filings during the year, including in particular the number of lawsuits filed against IPO companies (owing to the fact that IPO activity has been up in recent years), as well as the elevated number of lawsuits against foreign-domiciled companies.
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