False Claims Act - When Does Embellishing Become Fraud?
What is Fraud and How to Defend Against the Claim
On October 31, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit revived claims brought under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 against an outside auditor (the...more
On June 10, 2024, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to review a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that partially reinstated a putative class action asserting claims under...more
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit yesterday reversed the dismissal of a securities class action alleging fraud based on the defendants’ failure to disclose an SEC investigation into the company’s disclosed...more
The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a shareholder derivative action in light of an exclusive-forum bylaw requiring assertion of derivative claims in the Delaware Court of Chancery, even though...more
On November 24, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a pair of decisions addressing threshold requirements for securities fraud claims under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and...more
Northern District of California Dismisses Shareholder Derivative Suit Concerning Lack of Diversity; Delaware Court of Chancery Dismisses Stockholder Suit Against Medical Device Company for Failure to Plead Demand Futility;...more
The Background: An assignee of loans owed by the Arrium Group sued certain officers of the Arrium Group, alleging they had made negligent misstatements or misrepresentations in drawdown and rollover notices issued prior to...more
On May 7, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit summarily affirmed the judgment by Judge Edgardo Ramos of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granting defendants’...more
The Delaware Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Corwin v. KKR Financial Holdings LLC1 fashioned a powerful defense in post-closing money damages cases for boards of directors by finding that business judgment deference applies...more
In September 2018, in Baumgartner v. Timmins, 245 Ariz. 334, 429 P.3d 567, the Arizona Court of Appeals provided further clarification on what constitutes an “encumbrance” on a property for purposes of Arizona’s statutory...more
Although the United States Supreme Court has never directly addressed the issue, many lower courts have inferred that a private right action exists under Section 14(e) of the Exchange Act. That may not come of much a...more
On October 3, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a putative securities class action against Whole Foods Market, Inc. and certain of its executives under Section 10(b) of...more
On July 12, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action brought against Kohl’s Corporation and certain of its executives asserting claims pursuant to...more
On May 11, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a putative class action asserting claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act against Williams...more
The Second Circuit, in keeping with its recent decision in Waggoner v. Barclays, reaffirmed that defendants must satisfy the burden of persuasion by a preponderance of the evidence to rebut the presumption established by the...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated a $663 million judgment, concluding that the Supreme Court’s opinion in Escobar doomed the plaintiff’s FCA claims on the issue of materiality....more
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 protects “forward-looking statements”—that is, predictions about the future, at least when they are accompanied by “meaningful cautionary statements” that could cause the...more
In a summary order, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of two “shadow insurance” putative class action lawsuits against Axa Equitable Life Insurance and Metropolitan Life...more
On July 20, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recognized the “materialization of the risk” standard as a means of proving loss causation in securities-fraud cases. The court’s decision in Ohio Public...more
SEC Rule 10b-5 makes it unlawful to misstate a material fact (or omit to say something if the omission would render misleading what you do say) in connection with the purchase or sale of a security. The Private Securities...more
In Banner Life Insurance Co. v. Jacqueline L. Noel, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 1539 (4th Cir. 2013), aff’g 861 F. Supp. 2d 701 (E.D. Va. 2012), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently affirmed the district court’s...more
The Second Circuit court of appeals held that a court can exercise its equitable powers to reform the terms of a cash balance retirement plan to provide greater benefits than stated in response to material misstatements made...more
In our blog post dated April 29, 2013, Matthew Fischer discussed the case Lerner v. DMB Realty, LLC (Arizona Court of Appeals, November 27, 2012). In that case, the Arizona Court of Appeals addressed, among other things, the...more