Largely driven by litigation in the financial sector arising from the ongoing credit crisis, the heightened pace of securities filings continued during the first quarter of 2009.

There were a total of 57 separate, new securities class action lawsuits filed during the first quarter. The 57 new securities lawsuits represents an annualized pace of

A rare jury trial has commenced in a long-running securities lawsuit that resonates with overtones of the current subprime mortgage meltdown. On March 30, 2009, Northern District of Illinois Ronald Guzman began empanelling a jury in the securities class action lawsuit styled as Lawrence E. Jaffee Pension Plan v. Household International, Inc., a case that

On March 11, 2009, Cornerstone Research released its report of 2008 securities lawsuit settlements entitled "Securities Class Action Settlements: 2008 Review and Analysis" (here). Cornerstone previously released its review of 2008 securities class action filings, which can be found here. Among other things, the newly released Cornerstone Report concludes that "the value

On February 23, 2009, Advisen released its Report of 2008 securities litigation entitled "Securities Litigation in 2008: Implications for the D&O Market in 2009 and Beyond" (here, $ required). The Advisen Report’s numerical securities litigation analysis is directionally consistent with prior reports of the 2008 lawsuits, although the Report also contributes its own

The numbers are unambiguous – there were more securities lawsuits filed in the second half of 2008 than there were in the first half. Nevertheless commentators and observers continue to repeat the mistaken conclusion that there were fewer lawsuits filed in the second half, and even to try to discern some significance from a decline