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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

For the last several years, securities class action lawsuits related to SPACs and de-SPACs have been a significant factor in the overall annual number of securities suit filings. SPAC-related suits remain a significant factor in the number of filings again this year, even though it has now been several years since the peak of the SPAC frenzy. In the latest example, on October 17, 2024, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities suit against cannabis company WM Technology alleging that both prior to and following its predecessor company’s merger with a SPAC, the company misrepresented a key customer engagement metric. The new lawsuit has some interesting features, as discussed below. A copy of the complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Cannabis Company Hit With SPAC-Related Securities Suits

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?

In my recent round-up of the top trends in the world of directors’ and officers’ insurance and liability, I noted that, even though we are now well into the fifth year since the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S., COVID-related securities suits continue to be filed. In the latest example of this kind of lawsuit, last week a plaintiff investor filed a securities class action lawsuit against customer contact data firm ZoomInfo Technologies, alleging that after COVID-related demand inflated the company’s results during the pandemic, the company allegedly strained to conceal subsequent declining demand from investors. A copy of the September 4, 2024, complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Customer Contact Data Company Hit with COVID-Related Securities Suit

SEC officials have for months been signaling their concerns about companies overstating their AI credentials, a phenomenon that the officials and others have called “AI washing.” As set out and partially transcribed in a September 5, 2024, TheCorporateCounsel.net post (here), SEC Chair Gary Gensler recently recorded a video in which he reiterated concerns about public company AI-related disclosures and the need for companies to match AI-related claims to their actual capabilities. Nor are concerns about companies’ AI-related disclosures limited to the SEC; the tech community is also concerned about companies that overhype their AI qualifications, as illustrated in a September 4, 2024 TechBrew post (here).  

Another audience is also monitoring public companies’ AI-related disclosures – the class action plaintiffs’ lawyers. The number of securities class action lawsuits based on allegedly misleading statements concerning AI continues to grow. In the latest example, on September 4, 2024, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities suit against software development platform GitLab alleging that the company misled investors by overstating the company’s ability to develop AI software features that would increase market demand for the company’s software development platform. A copy of the complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Software Development Platform Hit with AI-Related Securities Suit

Here we are, well into the fifth year since the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S., and yet coronavirus-related securities lawsuits are still being filed. In the latest example, earlier this week plaintiffs’ lawyers filed a securities class action lawsuit against the electronics manufacturing firm Methode Electronics based in part on allegations concerning problems allegedly caused by the company’s loss of key personnel during the pandemic. A copy of the August 26, 2024, complaint can be found here.Continue Reading COVID-Related Securities Suit Filed Against Electronic Components Company

The number of federal court securities class action filings in the year’s first half project to a year-end total roughly level with year-end total number of suit filings last year, while case resolutions (dismissals and settlements) are on track to exceed 2023 levels, according to a recent report from NERA. The August 6, 2024, report, entitled “Recent Trends in Securities Class Action Litigation: 2024 H1 Update,” can be found here.Continue Reading NERA: First Half Securities Suit Filings Roughly Level with Last Year’s Pace

When SEC Chair Gary Gensler expressed concerns last December about the possibility of reporting companies engaging in “AI-washing,” he was referring company disclosures that overstate or mislead investors as to their true AI capabilities or the extent to which the company has incorporated AI into their operations or products. Since the time of those remarks, there have in fact been several AI-washing based SEC enforcement actions (as discussed, for example, here), and even several securities class action lawsuits based on AI washing allegations (for example, here). Late last week, In the latest example of an AI- washing-based securities class action lawsuit, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities class action lawsuit against Israeli-based cosmetics internet platform Oddity Tech Ltd., based on allegations that the company overstated the extent to which AI processes and tools enhanced its delivery of consumer services. A copy of the July 19, 2024, complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Cosmetics Platform Hit with AI-Washing-Related Securities Suit

The pandemic officially ended well over a year ago, but the pandemic’s effects continue to ripple through the economy and affect company’s operations and financial results. Moreover, these effects continue to translate into securities class action litigation. The latest example is the lawsuit filed earlier this week against the Canadian defense software company CAE, Inc., which was sued after the disruptive effects of the pandemic caused certain of its fixed-price long-term contracts to be more costly and less profitable, notwithstanding the company’s assurances that it was managing the “ongoing challenges posed by the pandemic.” A copy of the July 16, 2024, complaint in the lawsuit can be found here.Continue Reading Defense Firm Hit with COVID and Supply Chain Disruption-Related Securities Suit