As readers know, I have been keeping track of COVID 19-related securities class action lawsuits as they have been filed over the course of recent weeks (most recently here). One of the companies to get hit with a COVID 19 related securities suit is the pharmaceutical company Inovio; as discussed here, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities suit against the company based on alleged statements by the company’s CEO about the company’s readiness to prepare and begin testing a coronavirus vaccine. Now the company’s board has been with a separate shareholder derivative lawsuit based on the same coronavirus-related allegations. A copy of the plaintiff’s complaint, filed on April 20, 2020, can be found here.
Continue Reading Pharma Company Hit with COVID 19-Related Derivative Suit
Merrill Lynch/BofA Subprime-Related “Double Derivative” Lawsuits Dismissed
In a March 29, 2011 order (here), Southern District of New York Judge Jed Rakoff granted the defendants’ motions to dismiss a pair of subprime-related derivative lawsuits that had been brought against certain directors and officers of Merrill Lynch. Because the plaintiffs — former shareholders of Merrill Lynch who became BofA shareholders at
Comverse Technology Settles Options Backdating Derivative Suit
In a December 28, 2009 press release (here), the plaintiffs’ lawyers announced the settlement of the Comverse Technology options backdating-related derivative lawsuit. This derivative lawsuit settlement is separate from, but related to, the previously announced $225 million settlement of the Comverse Technology options backdating-related securities class action lawsuit (about which refer here).The
The $3 Billion Man and Other Web Notes
Various blogs and news articles expressed surprise and astonishment at the $2.876 billion judgment entered against Richard Scrushy in the HealthSouth state court derivative lawsuit, but a review of the June 18, 2009 memorandum opinion (here) that accompanied the final judgment shows that Jefferson County (Alabama) Circuit Court Judge Alwin E. Horn III
Merrill Lynch Subprime-Related Derivative Suit Dismissed and Other Web Notes
Even after Merrill Lynch’s recent $550 million settlement of the subprime-related securities and ERISA lawsuits pending against the company (about which refer here), the consolidated subprime-related derivative lawsuit against the company’s directors and officers remained pending. By contrast to the massive settlements in those other lawsuits, the derivative litigation was recently dismissed, because of
Subprime Securities Suit against Bank Dismissed Without Prejudice
In the latest preliminary ruling in a subprime or credit crisis-related securities lawsuit, Southern District of Florida Judge Ursula Ungaro in a December 11, 2008 opinion (here) granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ complaint, with leave to amend.
Background
BankAtlantic Bancorp is a bank holding company that offers consumer and
Dismissal Denied in Countrywide Financial Subprime Derivative Lawsuit
In the most in-depth review yet of a subprime-related lawsuit complaint, Judge Mariana Pfaelzer of the Federal District Court in Los Angeles, in an order dated May 14, 2008 (here), denied the defendants’ motions to dismiss the amended complaint in the consolidated derivative lawsuit filed against Countrywide Financial, as nominal defendant, and against
Uh-Oh! Serious Options Backdating Settlement Problems
As reflected in my running tally of options backdating lawsuit settlements (which can be accessed here), a number of the options backdating-related derivative lawsuits have settled for some combination of an agreement to pay the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees, some adjustment to the company officials’ options grants, and the company’s adoption of corporate governance reforms.