According to the latest report from Cornerstone Research, the number of securities class action lawsuit filings declined slightly in 2022 relative to 2021, although the number of “core” securities suit filings increased slightly compared to 2021. The report, which is entitled “Securities Class Action Filings: 2022 Year in Review,” and which was published in conjunction with the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse, notes that the number of new lawsuits involving Section 11 allegations rose 2022, likely due to the surge in IPOs during 2021. A copy of the report can be found here. Cornerstone Research’s February 1, 2023 press release about the report can be found here.
Continue Reading Cornerstone Research: Securities Suit Filings Declined in 2022
In a few days, when I work up my summary of the year’s events in the world of D&O, one of the stories I will be covering will be the volume of SPAC-related securities litigation during the year. The SPAC-related litigation represents a significant part of the year’s securities class action lawsuit filings. The latest example of this phenomenon is the lawsuit filed late last week against residential home improvement financing platform Sunlight Financial Holdings, Inc., which became a public company through a July 2021 merger with a SPAC. The new lawsuit is in many ways representative of the kinds of SPAC-related lawsuits filed this year. A copy of the complaint in the new lawsuit can be found 
At this point late in the year, it is looking increasingly likely that 2022 will be a down year in terms of the number of securities class action lawsuit filings relative both to recent years and even relative to long term historical norms. However, an important (and arguably somewhat surprising) part of the securities suits that were filed this year is the significant number of COVID-related securities suits filed this year. I say “surprising” because it seems unexpected well into the third year that plaintiffs’ lawyers would be continuing to file these suits. In the latest example of these kinds of suits, earlier this week a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities class action lawsuit against the pharmaceutical company Veru, Inc. related to the company’s disclosures concerning its efforts to develop a COVID-related therapy drug. A copy of the December 5, 2022 complaint filed against Veru can be found 
As I have noted previously (most recently 
One litigation trend that I have been following on this site since the initial coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. in March 2020 is the incidence of COVID-19-related securities class action litigation. Even though the outbreak is now well into its third year, these coronavirus-related cases continue to be filed. In the latest example of this phenomenon, on November 8, 2022, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities class action lawsuit against Eiger Biopharmaceuticals in connection with the company’s efforts to develop a COVID-19 treatment. A copy of the plaintiff’s complaint in the case can be found 
One of the more noteworthy developments in recent years has been the increasing frequency of collective investor actions outside the U.S. In certain instances, these cases have resulted in settlements that rival the largest U.S. securities class action lawsuit settlements in size. The largest of the settlements outside the U.S. are compiled in an October 31, 2022 report from ISS Securities Class Action Services entitled “The Top 25 Non-North American Settlements: Largest Securities-Related Settlements Outside of North America of All-Time.” The report, which updates ISS SCAS’s earlier research and was written by Jeff Lubitz, Managing Director, ISS Securities Class Action Services, and Jarett Sena, Director of Litigation Analysis, ISS Securities Class Action Services, can be found 
The SEC imposed fines on U.S. exchange-listed publicly traded companies at the highest levels in years during fiscal year 2022 (which ended September 30, 2022), according to an analysis published Saturday by the Wall Street Journal. As the Journal noted, the fines imposed during the fiscal year on firms accused of wrongdoing “underscore the Biden Administration’s tougher regulatory stance.” The October 29, 2022 Wall Street Journal article, entitled in the online edition “Under Biden Administration, Wall Street Watchdog’s Fines Surge,” can be found 
As I have previously noted, plaintiffs’ lawyers have over the last several months filed a plethora of securities class action lawsuit against companies that became publicly traded through a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC). Since these cases have only just been filed, few of the cases have yet reached the initial pleading hurdles. However, in a ruling last week, Central District of California Judge