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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

In my recent year-end wrap up, I noted that one of last year’s top stories was the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) as a source of corporate and securities litigation risk. Among the evidence reflecting the rise of AI as a source of risk was the onset of securities class action litigation containing AI-related allegations. Last week, in a new lawsuit filing showing that AI-related litigation risks are continuing, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities suit against a Canadian technology services company whose revenues declined and whose margins shrunk as the company shifted its services to an AI-based model. A copy of the January 30, 2025, complaint against Telus International (CDA) Inc. can be found here.Continue Reading Tech Company Hit with Securities Suit Alleging AI-Related Omissions

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

In my recent round-up of the top D&O stories of 2024, I noted as one of the key current issues the emergence of geopolitical issues as a source of D&O risk. Among other geopolitical concerns I speculated might contribute to this risk are anti-money laundering (AML) laws. Earlier this month, in the latest example of how AML issues can translate into a D&O claim, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities class action lawsuit against the money transfer technology company Block and certain of its executives, based on allegations that the company’s failure to maintain basic AML protocols had created a “haven for criminal and illicit activities,” allegedly contrary to the company’s representations. A copy of the January 17, 2025, complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Alleged Anti-Money Laundering Law Violations Leads to Securities Lawsuit

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

In prior posts, I have noted the phenomenon of securities class action lawsuit filings following in the wake of antitrust enforcement actions (most recently here). A new securities lawsuit filed just before year-end presents an interesting new variation on this sequence. The new lawsuit, filed against both Capri Holdings Limited and Tapestry, Inc., two high-fashion firms, and certain of their executives, relates back to an enforcement action the FTC filed against the firms to block their plans to merge. As discussed below, the lawsuit involves several interesting features. A copy of the plaintiff’s December 23, 2024, complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Securities Suit Follows After Antitrust Ruling Bars Firms’ Merger Plans

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

As often happens when companies are hit with securities class action lawsuits, Lululemon, which in August was sued in a securities suit, was hit with a parallel shareholder derivative lawsuit. The derivative suit allegations not only largely track the allegations in the prior securities suit, but the derivative suit complaint expressly refers to the prior securities lawsuit filings. However, there is an unusual twist. In addition to tracking the same allegations as the securities suit, the Lululemon derivative suit complaint contains an entirely new and different set of allegations – and the new set of allegations are interesting in their own right.

The new allegations relate to the Lululemon’s DEI program (or what Lululemon called its IDEA program, standing for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Action). DEI programs have been the recent focus of attention, with, for example, some companies facing litigation for even having a DEA program, and other companies (such as Ford and Harley-Davidson) having to publicly back away from their DEI program in response to political pressure. The allegations in the new Lululemon derivative complaint do not seek to challenge the company for having adopted this kind of program; the allegations instead question the company’s actions for doing too little to combat discrimination and eliminate racial issues at the company. In the context of a changing environment surrounding ESG issues in general, and DEI issues in particular, the new Lululemon lawsuit represents an interesting development, as discussed below. The derivative complaint in the new lawsuit can be found here.Continue Reading Lululemon Hit with Derivative Suit for Allegedly Ineffective DEI Program

As I have previously noted on this site (for example, here), a long-standing and frequently recurring litigation pattern has been the filing of a corporate or securities lawsuit in the wake of an antitrust enforcement action. In the latest example of this pattern, the card payment processing company Visa has been hit with a securities class action lawsuit after the DOJ launched an antitrust enforcement action against the company in September. There are several interesting features to this new lawsuit, as discussed below. The November 20, 2024, complaint against Visa can be found here.Continue Reading Antitrust Enforcement Action Against VISA Leads to Follow-On Securities Suit