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Long-time observers of securities class action litigation filing patterns know well that life sciences companies are frequent targets of securities suit, reflecting a litigation frequency pattern that has been well-established for years. While in more recent years the overall number of securities suits filed against life sciences has shown a marginal decline, in 2024, the number of securities suits filed against life sciences companies increased to the highest level in several years, according to the latest annual report from the Sidley law firm. A copy of the law firm’s recent memo, entitled “Securities Class Actions in the Life Sciences Sector: 2024 Annual Survey” can be found here. A two-page summary of the report can be found here.Continue Reading A Detailed Look at the 2024 Securities Litigation Against Life Sciences Companies

According to the latest annual report from ISS Securities Class Action Services, there were four court-approved securities class action settlements in 2024 large enough to make the firm’s list of the Top 100 U.S. Securities Class Action settlements. These settlements took place in a year in which there were 136 court-approved monetary securities class action lawsuit settlements totaling over $4.7 billion. The details of the 2024 court approved settlements, including with respect to the four largest during the year, can be found in the ISS Securities Class Action Services report entitled “The Top 100 U.S. Class Action Settlements of All-Time” (as of December 31, 2024), here.Continue Reading ISS Releases Top 100 Securities Suit Settlements List

The filing of Opioid-related securities litigation is not a new development; indeed, more than six years ago, I published a post in which I noted the outbreak at the time of a number of opioid-related securities suits against opioid drug companies. Now, in the latest opioid-related securities suits to be filed, and in the wake of the U.S. Department of Justice’s filing of a False Claims Act complaint against the company, a plaintiff shareholder has filed an opioid-related securities class action lawsuit against Walgreens Boots Alliance. A copy of the January 30, 2025, complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Walgreens Boots Alliance Hit with Opioid-Related Securities Suit

According to the latest report from Cornerstone Research, the number of federal and state securities class action lawsuits filed increased in 2024 for the second year in a row, to the highest level since 2020, even though the overall number of liability actions filings under the ’33 Act declined to the lowest level in the last ten years. As discussed below, a more detailed analysis of the 2024 securities class action lawsuit filing figures suggests that the 2024 filing activity was elevated compared to both recent and longer-term historical levels. The January 29, 2025, report, which was written in conjunction with the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse, and which is entitled “Securities Class Action Filings: 2024 Year in Review,” can be found here. Cornerstone Research’s January 29, 2025 press release about the report can be found here.Continue Reading Cornerstone Research: Securities Suit Filings Increased in 2024

According to the latest annual report from NERA, and based on NERA’s inclusive counting methodology, the number of federal securities class action lawsuits was flat in 2024 relative to 2023, but the number of “traditional” securities class action suits increased in 2024 for the second year in a row. In addition, the number of case resolutions (including both settlements and dismissals), increased in 2024, reversing a six-year decline in the number of resolutions. NERA’s January 22, 2025 report entitled “Recent Trends in Securities Class Action Litigation: 2024 Full-Year Review,” can be found here.Continue Reading NERA Reports Securities Suit Filings Level, Dismissals Increased in 2024

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