On January 24, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted the final rules intended to augment investor protections in initial public offerings by special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and in subsequent...more
On November 2, 2023, the New York Appellate Division, First Department, held that the automatic discovery stay in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (“PSLRA”) applies to actions brought in New York state court...more
On April 18, 2023, Judge William H. Orrick of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California denied a motion to dismiss a putative securities class action alleging a software company (the “Company”)...more
On March 30, 2022, the commissioners of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), in a 3-to-1 decision approved the much anticipated proposed rules relating to special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”)....more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced a proposed rule on March 21st that would mandate that domestic or foreign registrants include certain climate-related information in registration statements and...more
Northern District of Illinois Grants Motion for Partial Reconsideration of Summary Judgment Decision Regarding Whether Former Walgreens CFO’s Statements Were Actionable; Securities Fraud Claims Against Chicken Producer for...more
In This Issue. President Joe Biden issued a sweeping executive order aimed at cracking down on anticompetitive practices and reducing consolidation across multiple industry sectors, including financial services; the Federal...more
SCOTUS Grants Certiorari to Decide Whether Automatic Discovery Stay Applies to Securities Act Cases in State Court; Delaware Court of Chancery Dismisses Stockholder Suit Against FedEx for Failure to Make Pre-Litigation...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the automatic discovery stay established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 applies to cases under the Securities Act of 1933 when they are brought in...more
A Supreme Court decision could resolve significant inconsistency among trial courts as to the applicability of the PSLRA discovery stay. Key Points: ..While federal district courts have consistently applied the...more
Federal Reserve Hints at Government-Backed Cryptocurrency; Third Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Securities Fraud Class Action Against Shutterfly Inc. Regarding Allegedly Misleading Financial Projections; Ninth Circuit Holds...more
As the wave of SPAC IPOs and de-SPAC transactions continues to build, so too has the scrutiny of these transactions from the SEC and the shareholder plaintiff’s bar. On April 8, 2021, the SEC gave its clearest warning yet...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted certiorari to review a Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision that could alter the landscape of class action litigation under Rule 10b-5. The issue in Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. v....more
SPACs have seen exponential growth in 2020, but SPAC sponsors, investors and targets should beware the scrutiny de-SPAC transactions are receiving from the plaintiffs’ bar and the SEC. 2020’s SPAC IPO explosion will...more
On August 14, 2020, United States District Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss a putative securities...more
A recent decision by the New York Commercial Division held that the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act's automatic stay of discovery pending a motion to dismiss applies to Securities Act claims pursued in state court,...more
In In re Everquote, Inc. Securities Litigation, 2019 N.Y. Slip Op. 29242, No. 651177/2019, 2019 WL 3686065 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cnty. Aug. 7, 2019), Justice Andrew Borrok of the New York County Commercial Division stayed discovery...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this month adopted amendments to certain disclosure requirements in an effort to streamline rules and regulations, and to remove requirements that are “redundant, duplicative,...more
Rejecting the analysis of every other federal appellate court to consider the issue, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that most claims filed under Section 14(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of...more
On March 30, 2018, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed a class action against Halyard Health, Inc. (“Halyard”) and its executives, along with Kimberly-Clark Corporation...more
Thomas Carlyle famously called economics, the "dismal science". Sometimes, the law can be equally disheartening. Imagine trying to explain to a client that a statement that the company is "on track" to meet its projections...more
Douglas Greene, one of the United States’ most well-known securities litigators – on either side of the bar – recently wrote a four-part treatise, titled Who is Winning the Securities Class Action War – Plaintiffs or...more
Yesterday, SCOTUS heard oral argument in Cyan Inc. v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund, which addressed whether state courts have jurisdiction over cases brought solely under the Securities Act of 1933. Here is the...more
Recently, Cornerstone Research, an economic and financial consultancy, released its mid-year report on federal securities class action filings. Cornerstone reported that 85 of these lawsuits were filed in the first half of...more
Nonsettling defendants that faced Securities Act claims were protected from disproportionate liability following a partial settlement. On February 3, Judge William H. Orrick of the U.S. District Court for the Northern...more