Yesterday, the Supreme Court invited the U.S. Solicitor General to express its views on whether the Court should grant plaintiffs’ certiorari petition in The Laborers District Counsel Construction Industry Pension Fund v. Omnicare, Inc., No. 09-1400 — a case that should be of interest to securities issuers, underwriters, accountants, and others who potentially face the threat of lawsuits under Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933.

Granting certiorari in Omnicare would provide the Court an opportunity to consider a long-contested issue of securities pleading: whether Section 11 claims that “sound in fraud” must be pleaded with particularity in accordance with Rule 9(b), or whether they need only satisfy the more lenient notice pleading standards of Rule 8(a).