In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark June 20, 2011 decision in Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes, numerous commentators have asserted that the case could have a significant impact on future class actions. For example, one law firm’s memo about the case stated that the decision “should limit the number of class actions
Delaware Chief Justice Myron Steele, SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami at the Stanford Directors College
I am still out in the field and on assignment in Palo Alto at the Stanford Law School Directors’ College. The keynote speaker on the first full day of the event was Myron Steele, the Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court. Later in the morning, SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami presented what
All China, All the Time
Even though the story has been brewing for months, the mainstream media and the SEC suddenly seem to have decided that the alleged accounting frauds involving certain U.S.-traded Chinese companies are the central story of the moment. You can hardly pick up the business papers or turn on the television these days without encountering
Supreme Court Holds Fund Management Company Cannot Be Held Liable for Funds’ Statements
In a June 13, 2011 opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the United States Supreme Court held, by a 5-4 margin, in the Janus Capital Group, Inc. v. First Derivative Traders case, that a mutual fund management company cannot be held liable for the alleged misstatements in the prospectuses of the mutual funds that
Predicting the Supreme Court’s Decision in Janus
As the current Supreme Court term gets ready to draw to a close, many court observers are awaiting the Court’s decision in the Janus Capital case (background here). With the opinion due to be released any day now, I am pleased to be able to publish here a guest post from Brian Lehman
Securities Litigation: Variations on a Chinese Theme
One of the most distinct securities litigation filing trends during the last twelve months has been the filing of securities class action law suits against U.S.-listed companies based or operating in China. With a phenomenon this well-established, it is only natural that the trend should begin to evolve, which seems to be what has happened
Confidential Witness Statements Lead to Dismissal Motion Denial in Regions Financial Subprime Securities Lawsuit
In a decision that largely turned on detailed confidential witness statements, on June 7, 2011, Northern District of Alabama Judge Inge Prytz Johnson denied the motions to dismiss in the Regions Financial Corporation subprime-related securities lawsuit. This ruling is the latest of a series of decisions involving the company. The June7 ruling can be found
Supreme Court Reverses Fifth Circuit in Halliburton Case; Proof of Loss Causation Not Required At Class Certification Stage
As many observers had expected, the U.S. Supreme Court has reversed the Fifth Circuit’s opinion in the Halliburton case. In a brief June 6, 2011 opinion from Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for a unanimous court, the Court held that securities class action lawsuit plaintiffs do not need to prove loss causation in order
The Latest Chinese Accounting Fraud Lawsuit and Other Net Threads
Yet another U.S.-traded Chinese-based company has been hit with an accounting fraud securities class action lawsuit. The latest lawsuit, involving Longtop Financial Technologies Limited, comes after a series of stunning announcements from the company earlier this week.
Longtop’s ADRs trade on the NYSE and until recently the company had a market cap in
Dealing with Multi-Jurisdiction M&A Litigation
One of the most distinctive trends in corporate and securities litigation in recent years has been the rise in litigation related mergers and acquisition activity. Cornerstone Research’s most recent year-end litigation filing study, released in conjunction with the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse, documented that in M&A litigation in 2010 increased