The U.S. Supreme Court Confronted the Federal Securities Laws in Three Cases This Week

This week, the United States Supreme Court confronted three cases that require interpretation of the federal

securities laws.

On Monday, the Supreme Court granted review in Stoneridge Investment Partners, LLC v. Scientific-Atlanta,

Inc., 549 U.S. ____ (U.S. 06-43 Mar. 26, 2007). In Stoneridge, the Court will determine when, if at all, a private plaintiff can bring claims under the federal securities laws against secondary actors for participating in “schemes” to defraud shareholders. A discussion of Stoneridge is included in our previous client alert linked

here. The parties will now file briefs on the merits over the summer, and oral argument before the Supreme

Court will take place next fall.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two securities cases earlier this week. One case tests the pleading and proof requirements applied in private securities class actions. The other case concerns the intersection of the antitrust and securities laws. Below, we provide commentary on both of these cases.