In my recent review of the past year’s top D&O stories, I noted the current trend toward increased numbers of securities class action lawsuits involving smaller companies, and also towards smaller securities suit settlements. In the midst of this era of generally smaller cases and settlements has now come a huge settlement reminiscent of earlier time – perhaps because it involves a lawsuit that is itself a vestige of another era. On January 15, 2016, Merck announced that it had reached an $830 million settlement of the long-running Vioxx-related securities class action lawsuit. This case, whose extended procedural history included a trip all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to address statute of limitations issues, has been pending since November 2003. The proposed settlement is subject to court approval. Merck’s January 15, 2016 press release about the settlement can be found here.
Continue Reading Merck Agrees to Settle Long-Running Vioxx-Related Securities Class Action Lawsuit for $830 Million
Merck
The Winter Storm Update on the PLUS D&O Symposium Opening Session
So your flight was cancelled and you weren’t able to make it to New York for the PLUS D&O Symposium? Have no fear, my flight managed to get through and I made it to the conference, and so I am able to report here on the first day’s proceedings.
It may be cold consolation…
When is a Securities Suit Stale?
When the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling earlier this year in the Merck case pertaining to the question of what triggers the running of the statute of limitations in securities cases, there was some speculation that the decision might encourage an influx of cases involving events from the distant past. There really have not…
Supreme Court Grants Cert in Merck: Is This a Big Deal?
Relatively few securities lawsuits make it to the U.S. Supreme Court, so for that reason alone it is a noteworthy development that on May 26, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court granted Merck’s petition for a writ of certiorari in the securities class action lawsuit relating to the company’s disclosures about Vioxx, the pain medication…