A shareholders’ derivative lawsuit that generated the most prominent judicial pronouncements about options "springloading" has been settled. According to the company’s January 18, 2008 press release (here) and its filing on Form 8-K of the same date (here), the parties have settled the consolidated shareholders’ derivative lawsuit that has been been
Tellabs 7th Circuit Redux: Why it Matters
In a decision noteworthy both for the prominence of the case and for the implications of its analysis, the Seventh Circuit, hearing the Makor Issues & Rights Ltd. v. Tellabs Incorporated case on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, has once again reversed the district court’s dismissal of the case.
The Supreme Court, in its
Subprime Litigation Wave Hits Ambac Financial Group
On January 16, 2008, plaintiffs’ lawyers filed a securities lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against Ambac Financial Group and certain of its directors and officers, raising allegations in connection with the company’s disclosures concerning its provision of insurance for collateralized debt obligations. A copy of the plaintiff’s counsel’s January 16 press
Jury Awards Plaintiff $277.5 Million in Apollo Group Securities Trial
On January 16, 2008, a civil jury in the Apollo Group securities lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona entered a verdict in favor of the plaintiff class on all counts, awarding damages of $5.55 per share, an amount that according to Bloomberg (here) could reach as much
Supreme Court Rules in Stoneridge Defendants’ Favor
On January 15, 2008, in a 5-3 majority opinion (here) written by Justice Kennedy (pictured to the left), the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the Eighth Circuit in the Stonridge Investment Partners, LLC v Scientific Atlanta case. The Court concluded that the implied right of action under Section 10(b) did not reach the respondent
“CDO Squared” Securities Lawsuit Hits MBIA
On January 11, 2008, MBIA became the latest bond insurer to be named as a defendant in a subprime-related securities class action lawsuit. Bond insurers ACA Capital Holdings (about which refer here), Security Capital Assurance (refer here) and Radian Group (refer here) have previously been named in subprime-related securities lawsuits. MBIA is
Updates and Notes
More About Foreign Claimants, Foreign Companies: In earlier posts (here and here), I discussed issues arising as a result of foreign litigants suing foreign domiciled companies in securities class action lawsuits in U.S. courts. These issues were involved in a recent opinion in a case pending in the Southern District of New York.
Tracking the Opt-Out Settlements
In prior posts (most recently here), I have written about the increasing importance of opt-out settlements in the context of securities class action litigation. Along the way, numerous readers have inquired whether I am aware of a publicly available resource that is tracking the securities lawsuit opt-out settlements. I am not aware of any
A Closer Look at the 2007 Life Sciences Securities Lawsuits
In prior posts (most recently here), I noted that even during the two-year lull in securities lawsuits filings that prevailed between mid-2005 and mid-2007, filings against life sciences companies – and pharmaceutical companies in particular – continued more or less unabated. More recently I noted (here) that pharmaceutical companies in the Standard
Subprime Litigation Wave Hits State Street
On January 3, 2008, State Street Corporation announced (here) that for the fourth quarter of 2007, it will be establishing a reserve of $618 million, on a pre-tax basis, "to address legal exposure and other costs associated with the underperformance of … fixed-income strategies managed by… the company’s investment management arm." The net