As I have noted elsewhere on this site (for example here), the number of federal court merger objection class action lawsuits declined significantly during 2021. But as I and others have also noted, the decline in class actions had not necessarily meant less merger objection litigation overall. The merger objection suits are still being filed; they are just being filed as individual actions rather than as class actions. In the following article, Gregory Markel, Vincent Sama, Daphne Morduchowitz, Andrew Escobar, and Matthew Catalano of the Seyfarth Shaw law firm take a closer look at these changing merger objection lawsuit patterns and discuss the implications. I would like to thank the authors 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 the authors’ article. Continue Reading Guest Post: Plaintiffs’ Abusive Tax on M&A Deals Changed Form But Continued in 2021

As I have noted in prior posts on this site, the surge in special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC) IPO transactions over the last two years has also meant a wave of SPAC-related lawsuits. In the following guest post, Peter Evans, Complex Claims Director – Executive & Professional Lines, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, Elan Kandel, Member, Bailey Cavalieri LLC and James Talbert, Associate, Bailey Cavalieri LLC, take a look at SPACs and the litigation risks that SPAC sponsors can face, as well as the insurance issues that can arise in claims involving SPAC sponsors. I would like to thank the authors 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 the authors’ article. Continue Reading Guest Post: Litigation Risks and Insurance Issues for SPAC Sponsors

Daniel J. Tyukody
Robert A. Horowitz

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court’s March 2010 decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank courts have struggled with application of the Morrison Court’s standard to securities lawsuits involving transactions in American Depository Receipts. As I noted in a prior blog post, one of the latest court rulings involving the application of Morrison to ADR transactions was the denial of the motion for class certification in the Toshiba case. In the following guest post, Daniel J. Tyukody and Robert A. Horowitz take a closer look that the class certification motion denial in Toshiba and consider the implications of the ruling.  Tyukody and Horowitz are Co-Chairs of Greenberg Traurig, LLP’s Securities Litigation Practice. I would like to thank the authors 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. Here is the authors’ article. Continue Reading Guest Post: The Elusive Search For Determining The Reach Of Section 10(b) Liability Following Morrison

In what is one of the largest shareholder derivative lawsuit settlements ever, the parties to the various FirstEnergy bribery-related derivative lawsuits have reached an agreement to settle the actions for a payment of $180 million and the company’s agreement to adopt a number of corporate governance reforms. The settlement amount is to be funded by D&O insurance. The settlement agreement is subject to court approval. First Energy’s February 10, 2022 announcement of the settlement can be found here. The parties’ February 10, 2022 settlement term sheet can be found here. Continue Reading FirstEnergy Bribery-Related Derivate Lawsuit Settled for $180 Million

Lake Lucerne, Switzerland

Deep in the darkest depths of winter and now nearly two years into the seemingly never-ending pandemic, my wanderlust yearnings have been calling to me, urging me to take to the road again while at the same time filing me with nostalgia for the places I have been. Call this post a tribute to the travels of the past and a hopeful gesture toward the travels perhaps yet to come. Continue Reading An Incurable Case of Travel Nostalgia

In the latest SPAC-related securities class action lawsuit to be filed, a plaintiff shareholder has filed a post-merger lawsuit against a commercial space launch company that merged with a SPAC in June 2021. As is the case with many of the SPAC-related securities lawsuits, the defendant company was sued after its share price declined following the publication of a short-seller report. A copy of the complaint filed against Astra Space, Inc. on February 9, 2022 can be found here. Continue Reading Post-Merger Commercial Space Launch Company Hit with SPAC-Related Securities Suit

Readers of this blog know that two important current litigation trends involve the filing of claims relating to cybersecurity incidents and the filing of COVID-19-related claims.  A new securities class action lawsuit filed this week touched on both of these securities suit filing trends. Secure technology company Telos Corporation was hit with a securities suit following a decline in the price of its shares after the company experienced revenue delays owing to cybersecurity and coronavirus related “headwinds” that postponed the company’s performance of two key contracts. A copy of the plaintiffs’ complaint filed on February 7, 2022 against Telos can be found here. Continue Reading New Lawsuit Reflects Cybersecurity and Coronavirus-Related Litigation Trends

Last summer, I noted on this blog the filing of what turned out to be a total of four separate securities class action lawsuits that were filed against Chinese internet-business firms following a crackdown on their activities by the Chinese cybersecurity regulator. I noted at the time that though these four cases involved circumstances arguably unique to China the cases nevertheless represented examples of the ways in which regulatory risk could translate into securities class action litigation risk.

 

Last week, two more securities suits were filed against Chinese companies – both involved in the business of providing private educational and tutoring services, a sector that during the past year has been the target of a governmental crackdown – underscoring the extent to which regulatory exposures can lead to securities litigation risk. As discussed below, these latest cases, along with the four prior cases filed last summer, also arguably demonstrate the ways in which securities litigation risk can arise out of political risk. Continue Reading Political Risk as Securities Litigation Risk

The reign of the English King Henry VIII remains one of the most fascinating eras in European history. Today, it is impossible for us to imagine that period without summoning up the images created by the extraordinarily talented artist of the time, Hans Holbein. His paintings of the powerful and famous characterize and embody the entire age, and his endlessly fascinating works continue to dazzle and captivate. The story of how Holbein, a German painter from a relatively modest background, whose success had as much to do with his politically adroitness as his technical brilliance, would go on to become England’s “most celebrated artist,” is well-told in Franny Moyle’s fascinating book, The King’s Painter. Continue Reading Sunday Arts: The King’s Painter

In the latest example of a SPAC-related securities class action lawsuit against a post-SPAC-merger company in the electric vehicle industry, a plaintiff shareholder has filed a securities suit against Electric Last Mile Solutions, Inc. an EV company that merged with a SPAC in June 2021. The lawsuit comes after the company announced the departure of its CEO and its Chairman and the need for the company to restate prior financial statements. A copy of the plaintiff’s February 3, 2022 complaint can be found here. Continue Reading SPAC-Related Securities Suit Filed Against Electric Vehicle Company