Even though the overall number of federal court securities class action lawsuit filings decrease in 2020 relative to 2019, the number of securities suits involving accounting allegations increased slightly, according to a new report from Cornerstone Research. The report, which is entitled “Accounting Class Action Filings and Settlements: 2020 Review and Analysis” also notes that the number of and value of settlements of accounting-related securities suits increased in 2020, as well. The April 7, 2021 report can be found here. Cornerstone Research’s April 7, 2021 press release about the report can be found here.
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A Detailed Look at 2020 Securities Litigation Against Life Sciences Companies
In the latest edition of the law firm’s annual report, Sidley Austin takes a detailed look at important securities litigation developments in 2020 relating to life sciences companies. The report includes not only a review of life sciences companies’ securities litigation class action filings trends but also examines life sciences companies’ track record in the courts, on motions to dismiss in the district courts and on appeal. The law firm’s report, entitled “Securities Class Actions in the Life Sciences Sector: 2020 Annual Survey” can be found here. The law firm’s two-page report summary can be found here.
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Guest Post: Foreign Restatements and Securities Class Action Suits
One of the more noteworthy and interesting observations emerge the 2020 year end securities class action lawsuit filing review was the finding that, while the overall number of lawsuit filings declined in 2020 relative to 2019, the number of lawsuits filed against non-U.S. U.S.-listed companies actually increased during the year. In the following guest post, Joseph Burke and John Cheffers, take a closer look at the securities lawsuit filings against non-U.S. companies and suggest some possible causes for the amount of litigation. Joe is the Senior Economist and Data Scientist at Watchdog Research, Inc. and John is Director of Research and legal counsel for Watchdog Research. This summary article is also available on Watchdog Research’s website and the full report is available on request. I would like to thank Joe and John 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 Joe and John’s article.
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Biotech Company Hit with COVID-19-Related Securities Suit
In the latest sign that coronavirus-related securities lawsuits are continuing to be filed, a plaintiff shareholder has filed a securities suit against a biotechnology company and two if its executives, alleging that the company drove up its share price by promoting its HIV-focused drug candidate as a treatment for COVID-19. Although the new complaint is similar in many respects to prior COVID-19-related securities lawsuits, it has several distinct features as well. A copy of the plaintiff’s complaint can be found here.
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Cornerstone Research: Large Settlements Increased Total and Average 2020 Securities Suit Settlements
The number of securities class action settlements increased only slightly in 2020 compared to 2019, but the aggregate total of all 2020 securities suit settlements doubled compared to the equivalent 2019 total, largely as a result of several “mega” settlements over $100 million, according to a March 17, 2021 report from Cornerstone Research. According to the report, which is entitled “Securities Class Action Settlements: 2020 Review and Analysis,” the average securities suit settlement in 2020 was larger than in 2019, but the median 2020 settlement decreased slightly compared to the 2019 median. Cornerstone Research’s March 17, 2021 press release can be found here and the report itself can be found here.
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A Year of COVID-19-Related Securities Lawsuits
It was over a year ago – March 11, 2020, to be exact – that the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak to be a pandemic. And it was also over a year ago – March 12, 2020, in fact – that the first of the coronavirus outbreak-related securities class action lawsuits were filed. Since that time, more than two dozen other coronavirus-related securities suits have also been filed. But while the pandemic related litigation has been an interesting phenomenon, a year into the development there are some interesting questions about the litigation. Such as, for example, why hasn’t there been more securities litigation related to the pandemic? In this post, I take a look at the litigation (so far) and try to answer a few of the questions.
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U.S. Securities Suit Filings Against Non-U.S. Companies Increased in 2020
One of the interesting things about the 2020 securities class action lawsuit filing numbers is that even though the overall number of securities suit filings went down in 2020, the number of securities class action lawsuits filed against non-U.S. companies actually increased during the year. The 2020 securities suit filings against non-U.S. companies are reviewed in detail in a new report from the Dechert law firm entitled “2020 Developments in U.S. Securities Fraud Class Actions Against Non-U.S. Issuers.” The March 8, 2021 report can be found here.
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ISS Releases 2020 Top 100 Securities Class Action Lawsuit Settlements List
According to the latest annual report from ISS Securities Class Action Services, there were four securities class action settlements in 2020 that were large enough to make the firm’s list of the Top 100 U.S. Securities Class Action settlements. These four settlements took place in a year in which there were a total of 99 approved monetary securities class action settlements totaling $3.26 billion The details of the settlements included the four largest can be found in the ISS SCAS report entitled “The Top 100 U.S. Class Action Settlements of All-Time,” here.
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Electric Car Technology Company Hit with Post-deSPAC Securities Lawsuit
Regular readers know that I have been tracking new securities class action lawsuits filed related to SPACs and SPAC transactions. In the latest of these suits — a securities class action lawsuit filed against a company that was acquired by a SPAC in September 2020 — a plaintiff shareholder has filed a securities suit against the company relating to post-transaction board actions taken against senior company officials. The complaint in the securities class action lawsuit filed on March 2, 2021 against Velodyne Lydar, Inc. can be found here. Also, please note the further discussion below relating to yet another recent SPAC-related securities lawsuit, as well.
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Cornerstone Research: Both Federal and State Securities Suit Filings Declined in 2020
Securities class action lawsuit filings declined 22% in 2020 compared to the year prior but remained well above long-term annual averages, according to a February 3, 2021 report by Cornerstone Research published in conjunction with the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse. The Cornerstone Research report’s analysis of the 2020 filings is consistent with prior reports on the topic; however, the Cornerstone Research report, unlike prior reports, includes data both for federal and for state securities class action lawsuit filings. The Cornerstone Research report can be found here. Cornerstone Research’s February 3, 2021 press release about the report can be found here.
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