Owing to a number of larger settlements, the average securities class action settlement amount in 2013 rose, while at the same time the media settlement amount declined, according to a study of the securities suit settlements from Cornerstone Research. The study also reports that the number of settlements and the aggregate dollar value of all
Securities Suit Filing Trends: More About IPOs and Investigative Follow-On Actions
Two securities suit filing trends that emerged during 2013 were the filing of securities class action lawsuits against companies that had recently completed IPOs (about which refer here) and the filing of securities suits in the wake of investigative or regulatory actions (as discussed here). Based on the recent filings, it appears that
U.S. Supreme Court Takes Up Yet Another Securities Case: To Support a Section 11 Claim, Must an Opinion Be Subjectively False?
As if it were not enough that the Court is already considering a case that could change the face of securities class actions (that is, the Halliburton case, which will be argued this week), the U.S. Supreme Court has now agreed to take up yet another securities case.
In a March 3, 2014 order
U.S. Supreme Court: SLUSA Does Not Preempt Stanford Ponzi Scheme Victims’ State Law Claims
The state law fraud claims of certain victims of the Stanford Ponzi scheme against various law firms and brokerage firms are not precluded under the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act (“SLUSA”) and plaintiffs therefore may pursue their state law class actions against the defendants, according to a February 26, 2014 decision from the U.S. Supreme
The Sins of the Past: Ninth Circuit Revives BP’s Prudhoe Bay Oil Spill Securities Suit
In a February 8, 2014 article entitled “A Shrunken Giant” (here), the Economist magazine examined BP’s efforts to regain its footing after the disastrous April 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. The article concludes by stating that “Repairing the balance sheet and books is one thing. Repairing BP’s reputation for management
Even if Fraud on the Market is Dumped, Don’t Cut Back on D&O Insurance
It is hard to prognosticate the outcome of the Halliburton case now before the U.S. Supreme Court. But while we can’t be sure what the outcome will be, we can start to think about what will happen if the Supreme Court overturns Basic. In an interesting February 7, 2014 post on the Harvard Law School
Cornerstone Research: Securities Suit Filings Increase in 2013, Filing Rate Above Historical Averages
Considered on an absolute basis, securities class action lawsuit filings were up about nine percent in 2013 compared to 2012, although the number of 2013 lawsuits was about 13 percent below annual filings averages for the years 1996-2012, according to a new report from Cornerstone Research and the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse.
More About Follow-On Securities Litigation After Overseas Investigative Actions
In my year-end survey of corporate and securities litigation, one of the trends I noted regarding the litigation that had been filed in 2013 was the rise in lawsuit filings following in the wake of governmental investigations and regulatory actions, particularly with respect to investigations and regulatory actions outside the United States. If two
NERA Releases 2013 Securities Class Action Litigation Report
Securities class action lawsuit filings “saw a small increase” during 2013, while securities class action settlements reflected a dynamic in which “large settlements got larger and smaller settlements got smaller” during the year, according to the annual report from NERA Economic Consulting. The January 21, 2014 report, entitled “Recent Trends in Securities Class Action Litigation:
Litigation Funding in the Courts
Third-party litigation funding continues to attract investors, as evidenced by relatively new litigation funding firm Gerchen Keller Capital’s recent $260 million capital raise, which brings their total investor commitments to $310 million (as discussed in a January 12, 2013 New York Times article, here). As litigation has become more prevalent, courts have had