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Recent securities class action lawsuit filing analyses have noted (as discussed, for example here), that the number of COVID-related securities suit filings has declined so far this year relative to last year. Arguably the more interesting observation is that these lawsuits are being filed at all in 2025, now well over five years since the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States. In the latest example of the continued filing of these kinds of suits, late last week, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities class action lawsuit against Lineage, a cold storage focused real estate investment trust (REIT). The complaint alleges that in the run-up to the company’s July 2024 IPO, the company soft-pedaled the impact of the downturn of pandemic-driven demand. The new complaint against Lineage can be found here.Continue Reading REIT Hit With COVID-Related Securities Suit

The number of securities class action lawsuits filed in the first six months of 2025 was roughly level with the number of securities suits filed in the second half of 2024, according to a new report from Cornerstone Research. The number of suits filed in the first half of 2025 is also roughly level with the historical semiannual average number of filings. The July 30, 2025, report, which Cornerstone Research produced in conjunction with the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse, is entitled “Securities Class Action Filings: 2025 Midyear Assessment,” can be found here. Cornerstone Research’s July 30, 2025, press release regarding the report can be found here.Continue Reading Cornerstone Research: Securities Suit Filings Steady in Year’s First Half

In my recent write-up about the number of securities class action lawsuit filings in the first half of 2025, I noted that there had been a significant drop off in the number of COVID-19-related securities suit filings in the first six months of 2025 compared to last year. The interesting thing is that though there has been an unmistakable drop off in the number of COVID-related securities suit filings, the fact is that now – even after more than five years since the initial COVID outbreak in the U.S. — new COVID-related securities suits are still being filed. In the latest example, late last month a shareholder filed a securities suit against Petco Health and Wellness, alleging the pet supply company had misleadingly contended that the company’s pandemic-related tailwinds could be sustained post-pandemic. A copy of the new Petco complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Pet Supply Company Hit with COVID-Related Securities Suit

As I noted in a recent post (here), even though we are now more than five years past the initial COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., companies continue to be hit with securities class action lawsuits alleging that the lingering effects of the pandemic’s disruption continue to affect their operations and financial results. The latest COVID-related securities lawsuit example provides an interesting variant on the typical allegations. The complaint in a new securities suit against pharma supply company West Pharmaceutical Services alleges not that the company failed to disclose the full impact of the pandemic on its operations and financial results, but rather that the company’s reports about the pandemic’s pervasive disruption masked other undisclosed customer losses.  A copy of the complaint against West can be found here.  Continue Reading Pharma Supply Company Hit with COVID-Related Securities Suit

As I have noted on this site (most recently here), plaintiffs’ lawyers have launched a plethora of lawsuits against companies whose prospects soared during the initial government shut-down phase of the pandemic, but whose fortunes waned as the pandemic moved into the return-to-work phase. While plaintiffs’ lawyers have been quick to file these kinds of pandemic-related suits, the cases have not always fared particularly well.

Last week, in the latest example of one of these kinds of suits stalling at the initial pleading stage, a federal district court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss – albeit without prejudice – in a pandemic-related lawsuits that had been filed against the portable energy generation company, Generac Holdings. The court’s February 7, 2025, decision, which can be found here, makes for interesting reading and arguably has important implications for other lawsuits of this type.Continue Reading Court Dismisses COVID-19-Related Securities Suit Against Energy Generator Company

The number of federal court securities class action lawsuit filings increased in 2024 for the second year in a row, to the highest level since 2020. The increased number of federal court securities suit filings during the past year is due to several factors, including continuing filings relating to ongoing trends such as new lawsuit filings relating to SPACs, COVID-related suits, and cryptocurrencies, as discussed further below.Continue Reading Federal Court Securities Class Action Lawsuit Filings Increased in 2024

The onset of COVID-related securities class action litigation since the initial outbreak of the coronavirus in the U.S. in March 2020 is something that I have fully documented on this site (most recently, for example, here). Even though the coronavirus-outbreak peaked long ago and even though the relevant U.S. agencies officially declared an end to the pandemic health emergency on May 11, 2023, the pandemic’s impact on the U.S. economy continues to reverberate. And the economic disruption the pandemic caused among other things continues to result in securities class action lawsuit filings, even at this late date after the pandemic ended. The latest example of this phenomenon is the lawsuit filed this week against alcoholic beverage company MGP Ingredients, whose fortunes soared during the lockdown but tailed off more recently as the company acknowledged the impact on its sales from pandemic-induced overstocking. A copy of the December 16, 2024, complaint against the company can be found here.Continue Reading Beverage Company Hit with COVID-Related Securities Suit

One of the more interesting developments in the securities litigation arena over the past several years has been the continuing influx of pandemic-related securities class action lawsuit filings. Here we are now approaching what will be the sixth year since the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S. and yet the pandemic-related suits are continuing to come in. In the latest example, last week a shareholder plaintiff filed a securities class action lawsuit against the toy company Hasbro, alleging that the company misled investors by claiming that the level of inventory it built up in response to pandemic lockdown-related consumer demand was appropriate, only to later announce it would have to incur substantial inventory reduction costs. A copy of the November 13, 2024, complaint against Hasbro can be found here.Continue Reading Toy Company Hit with Pandemic-Related Securities Suit

As readers know, since the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S. in March 2020, plaintiffs’ lawsuits have hit dozens of companies with pandemic-related securities suits; indeed, even though we are now well into the fifth year since the outbreak, plaintiffs’ lawyers continue to file COVID-related securities suits. But while these kinds of suits have proven to be popular with plaintiffs’ lawyers, how have they fared? Recent developments in two of these COVID-related securities suits underscore the fact that the results in these cases have been mixed.Continue Reading Yes, But How Have the COVID-19-Related Securities Suits Fared?