Lane Powell PC - Securities / D&O Discourse

On April 4, 2013, in the Allergan decision, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed the Court of Chancery’s ruling last year that the dismissal of a shareholder derivative action in California did not preclude other stockholders…more

The recurring and pervasive problem of flawed confidential witness (“CW”) allegations tops my list of the key issues in securities class action litigation.* I don’t mean just notorious situations such as those recently at issue…more

In our post in the immediate wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Amgen Inc. v. Connecticut Retirement Plans, we concluded that rather than being a new threat to the defense of securities class actions, Amgen basically…more

The Supreme Court released its anxiously awaited decision in Amgen Inc. v. Connecticut Retirement Plans yesterday. On the face of the decision, it was a loss for defendants in that case, and for companies everywhere that are…more

This promises to be an eventful year in securities and corporate governance litigation. A number of looming developments have the potential to change the landscape for many years to come. This is the first of two posts – or…more

For most readers of this blog, it is now old news that securities class action filings were down in 2012, especially in the second half of the year – this was extensively discussed and examined over the last several weeks by…more

The Reform Act’s heightened pleading standards were designed to increase the number of securities class actions dismissed at the pleading stage. An unintended consequence, however, has been a liberal application of the already…more

I am frequently asked about the safety of director service. Below is the text of a short article I wrote for a forthcoming issue of a business publication…more

I attended the Supreme Court argument in Amgen yesterday. Law360 and the 10b-5 Daily, written by my former Wilson Sonsini partner Lyle Roberts (now at Cooley), have posted good summaries of the argument…more

On October 24, Kevin LaCroix’s D&O Diary discussed a report called “The Trial Lawyers’ New Merger Tax,” published by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. The report proposes several legislative approaches that would…more

Plaintiffs’ lawyers are facing intense judicial scrutiny of problems with their use of “confidential witnesses” (“CWs”) in the Lockheed Martin and SunTrust securities class actions. Courts have recently addressed similar CW…more

The Supreme Court’s decision in the Amgen securities case will have a profound impact on the future of securities class action litigation. If the Court affirms the Ninth Circuit’s decision, it will eliminate an important event:…more

The appeal of Judge Rakoff’s rejection of the settlement between the SEC and Citigroup is spectacular theater. Behind the scenes, however, is a highly serious issue: does a federal district judge have the power, as a condition…more

Two recent cases from the Southern District of New York discussed the application of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Janus to pleading corporate scienter in Reform Act cases. Judge Pauley, in Pennsylvania Public School…more