At least one prominent commentator has suggested that the reason for the accumulation during late 2009 of a significant number of belated securities suits, where the filing date came well after the proposed class period cut-off date, is that plaintiffs lawyers are "trying to fill the litigation pipeline by bringing older lawsuits that weren’t
Two Subprime Suit Dismissal Motion Rulings
In two separate decisions, two courts issued opinions in cases that each related in different ways to Credit-Based Asset Servicing and Securitization, LLC, also known as C-Bass. As discussed below, Judge Rakoff has issued an opinion substantiating his prior dismissal motion rulings in the C-Bass subprime-related class action securities litigation, and in a separate
Law Firm Memo Roundup
My weekend reading over the Memorial Day holiday included a hefty selection from the stack of law firm memos that accumulated in my inbox in recent weeks. Many of the most recent memos related to the Senate’s passage of its version of the financial reform legislation, but the memos also reflected a variety of other
The Sands of Time: An Interesting New Subprime Securities Suit
The subprime and credit crisis-related litigation wave may now be in its fourth year, but lawsuits continue to come in. The latest of these suits – a securities class action lawsuit involving Las Vegas Sands – has a number of interesting features, and it also raises the question whether we may see even further new filings
Allen Stanford, D&O Insurers Spar Over Defense Issues
The strange sequence of legal events surrounding R. Allen Stanford has taken yet another bizarre turn. The latest developments began earlier last week when Stanford yet again sought to fire his criminal defense lawyers. Then on May 21, 2010, Stanford, representing himself pro se in coverage litigation arising out of his and fellow criminal defendants&rsquo
Perspective on the Senate Financial Reform Bill
On May 20, 2010, the U.S. Senate passed the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 (S. 3217) by a vote of 59 to 39. The Senate websites latest version of the Bill can be found here, and the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee’s link to the most current version can be
Though Banks Improve, “Problem” Banks Increase
According to the FDIC’s Quarterly Banking Profile for the 1st Quarter of 2010, released on May 20, 2010 (here), results for reporting banks "contained positive signs of recovery for the industry," reflecting "clear improvement in certain performance indicators." Nevertheless, the number of "problem" institutions at quarter end increased to 775, up from
Dismissal Motion Denied in Case Alleging Lehman-Related Exposure
As the subprime litigation wave evolved in late 2008, among the many cases arising were cases I described at the time as "new wave" subprime-related cases, where the target company’s financial problems were due not to the company’s own exposure to subprime-related assets, but rather due to the company’s exposure to other companies that suffered
Who’s Getting Hit With Securities Suits These Days?
Though some observers have reported a downturn in 2010 securities class action lawsuits compared to prior years, at least very recently there has been a flurry of filing activity, with six new securities suits in the past week, by my count. With these latest filings coming in, it seemed worthwhile to take a look at the
Icelandic Failed Bank Ash Cloud Hits New York Courts
In prior posts (most recently here), I have noted the growing numbers of lawsuits brought against the former directors and officers of failed or troubled banks. If the complaint recently filed in New York state court is any indication, the "dead bank" lawsuits apparently will also include claims against the directors and offices of