As readers of this blog know, an important litigation phenomenon that followed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak has been the surge of COVID-19 related securities class action lawsuit filings. In this guest post, Jeff Lubitz, Managing Director, and Louis Angelo Panis, Research Analyst, ISS Securities Class Action Services, take a closer look at the coronavirus-related securities class action lawsuits filings and review the status of the cases that have been filed so far. Please note that the date reflected in the article is as of February 15, 2022. A version of this article previously was published as an ISS Securities Class Action Services client alert. I would like to thank the authors 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 the authors’ article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: COVID-19 Update: Investor Related Class Actions
readers of this blog well know, since the initial U.S. coronavirus outbreak in March 2020, plaintiffs’ lawyers have filed dozens of COVID-19-related securities class action lawsuits. Even though the coronavirus-related litigation phenomenon, like the coronavirus outbreak itself, is about to enter its third year, relatively few of the coronavirus-related securities suits have yet reached the motion to dismiss stage. However, last week the federal judge presiding over the coronavirus-related lawsuit filed against Zoom Video Telecommunications entered an order granting in part and denying in part the defendants’ motion to dismiss. The Court’s February 16, 2022 order, a copy of which can be found 
In a lawsuit that captures two of the top current securities class action lawsuit trends, a plaintiff shareholder has filed a securities class action lawsuit against health technology company Butterfly Network. The new lawsuit is both SPAC-related and COVID-related. Butterfly merged with Longview Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in February 2021. The allegations included, among other things, a contention that the defendant company failed to take into account pandemic’s “broad consequences” in its operations and reporting. A copy of the plaintiff’s February 16, 2022 complaint can be found 
As I have noted elsewhere on this site (for example 
As I have noted in prior posts on this site, the surge in special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC) IPO transactions over the last two years has also meant a wave of SPAC-related lawsuits. In the following guest post, Peter Evans, Complex Claims Director – Executive & Professional Lines, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, Elan Kandel, Member, Bailey Cavalieri LLC and James Talbert, Associate, Bailey Cavalieri LLC, take a look at SPACs and the litigation risks that SPAC sponsors can face, as well as the insurance issues that can arise in claims involving SPAC sponsors. I would like to thank the authors 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 the authors’ article.
In what is one of the largest shareholder derivative lawsuit settlements ever, the parties to the various FirstEnergy bribery-related derivative lawsuits have reached an agreement to settle the actions for a payment of $180 million and the company’s agreement to adopt a number of corporate governance reforms. The settlement amount is to be funded by D&O insurance. The settlement agreement is subject to court approval. First Energy’s February 10, 2022 announcement of the settlement can be found 
In the latest SPAC-related securities class action lawsuit to be filed, a plaintiff shareholder has filed a post-merger lawsuit against a commercial space launch company that merged with a SPAC in June 2021. As is the case with many of the SPAC-related securities lawsuits, the defendant company was sued after its share price declined following the publication of a short-seller report. A copy of the complaint filed against Astra Space, Inc. on February 9, 2022 can be found 
Readers of this blog know that two important current litigation trends involve the filing of claims relating to cybersecurity incidents and the filing of COVID-19-related claims. A new securities class action lawsuit filed this week touched on both of these securities suit filing trends. Secure technology company Telos Corporation was hit with a securities suit following a decline in the price of its shares after the company experienced revenue delays owing to cybersecurity and coronavirus related “headwinds” that postponed the company’s performance of two key contracts. A copy of the plaintiffs’ complaint filed on February 7, 2022 against Telos can be found 
Last summer, I 
In the latest example of a SPAC-related securities class action lawsuit against a post-SPAC-merger company in the electric vehicle industry, a plaintiff shareholder has filed a securities suit against Electric Last Mile Solutions, Inc. an EV company that merged with a SPAC in June 2021. The lawsuit comes after the company announced the departure of its CEO and its Chairman and the need for the company to restate prior financial statements. A copy of the plaintiff’s February 3, 2022 complaint can be found