The SEC wants you to know that it means business about its whistleblowing program. On April 1, 2015, in the latest in a series of steps to protect and encourage whistleblowers, the agency entered an order in an enforcement action against KBR saying that the company’s confidentiality requirements for internal investigation witnesses violated the agency’s
Securities Litigation Developments Outside the U.S.: Interview with Shareholder Attorney Alexander Reus
Among the more interesting recent securities litigation developments outside the United States was the announcement earlier this month that institutional investors had reached a 11 billion yen ($92 million) settlement of shareholder lawsuits they had filed in Japan against Olympus. Among the many interesting details about the settlement was the involvement of global securities litigation
Are Event Studies in Securities Litigation Reliable?
In its June 2014 opinion in the Halliburton case, the U.S. Supreme Court held that securities lawsuit defendants may introduce evidence at the class certification stage to try to show that the alleged misrepresentation on which the plaintiffs rely did not impact the defendant company’s share price. To show the absence of price impact, defendants
Guest Post: The SEC Continues to Turn Up the Heat on Private Equity
In the following guest post, Elan Kandel, who is a member of the Cozen O’Connor law firm, takes a look at the SEC’s recent investigative interest in the way private equity firms disclose their fees. He also reviews the insurance issues these types of SEC investigations and enforcement actions raise. A version of this article
PwC Report Reviews 2014 Securities Suit Filings and Settlements, Analyzes Trends Likely to Drive Future Suits
On April 10, 2015, PwC released the latest in what is now a series of annual securities class action litigation reports. PwC’s report is generally consistent with the reports previously published by Cornerstone Research and NERA. What makes the PwC report noteworthy is its commentary on the trends the report’s authors believe could contribute to
Challenging Consequences: The Government’s Requirement for Wrongdoing Admissions in Civil Fraud Suits
In one of the more troublesome recent developments for corporate officials who find themselves targeted by government investigations, both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney’s Office have made it clear that as part of the settlement of civil fraud actions, the governmental authorities intend to seek both
A Q&A with Mark Lebovitch of Bernstein Litowitz: A Plaintiffs’ Counsel’s Perspective on the Fee-Shifting Bylaw Debate
One of the more significant recent developments in the corporate and securities litigation arena has been the emergence of the debate over fee-shifting bylaws following the Delaware Supreme Court’s May 2014 decision in ATP Tour, Inc. v. Deutscher Tennis Bund. Draft proposed legislation is now being considered by the Delaware legislature that would address
Management Liability Insurance: If a Qui Tam Action is a Claim, When is it “First Made”?
The federal False Claims Act imposes liability on those who defraud the government. The law also allows third-parties to bring so-called qui tam actions in the form liability claims under the Act; if the qui tam actions are successful, the third-party can receive a portion of the recovery. When a third-party files a qui tam
What’s Up with IPOs?
It has been three years since Congress passed the JOBS Act in the hope that aiding “Emerging Growth Companies” would help create jobs. Among other things, the Act’s IPO on-ramp provisions were designed to encourage fledgling companies to go public, on the theory that that would boost employment. As discussed below, the legislation’s jobs creation
The Curse of Multi-Jurisdiction Litigation: A Problem for Everyone, Not Just Defendants
One of the more distinct litigation phenomena in recent years has been the rise of multi-jurisdiction litigation, particularly in connection with merger objection litigation. Corporate advocates and defense attorneys have decried this development, as it has forced companies facing litigation to have to fight a multi-front war and to incur increased defense expense. At its