Selecting a named plaintiff in a putative class action can be one of the most important, but overlooked, decisions that a plaintiff’s counsel makes. Picking the wrong plaintiff can lead to delay, dismissal of claims, denial of class certification in some circumstances, and motions for sanctions. The high-profile putative class action against Mark Cuban, the “Shark Tank” multimillionaire entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team, illustrates all of these ... Keep Reading »
Securities Class Action Articles
The latest class action developments and trends in the securities industry, including news, key cases, and strategies.
Proposed Cryptocurrency Class Action Goes Forward in Florida With Defendant’s Help
Two plaintiffs in Miami-Dade County have filed a class action complaint against cryptocurrency platform Empires X Corp. and its founders based on an alleged Ponzi scheme. In Villanueva v. Empires X Corp., pending in Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit, the plaintiffs allege that they, as well as several other damaged investors, provided millions of dollars to Empires X Corp. based on extensive misrepresentations that Empires X Corp. was a legitimate investment ... Keep Reading »
Cyan Makes SLUSA Removal Proponents Feel Blue: Supreme Court Holds That Securities Act of 1933 Class Actions Can Stay in State Court
On March 20, the Supreme Court reached two holdings important to securities litigators. First, the Court held that the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998 (“SLUSA”) did not strip state courts of their ability to adjudicate class actions under the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”). Second, the Court held that SLUSA does not allow removal to federal court of class actions alleging claims only under the Securities Act. Petitioners were an issuer ... Keep Reading »
Second Circuit Reiterates: Defendants Must Satisfy Burden of Persuasion Through a Preponderance of the Evidence to Rebut Basic Presumption in Securities Fraud Class Actions
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 Supreme Court in Basic, Inc. v. Levinson. The plaintiffs-appellees, who had acquired shares of Goldman Sachs stock between 2007 and 2010, claimed violations of section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b–5, based on Goldman’s alleged ... Keep Reading »
SeaWorld Shareholders See Red After World Sees Blackfish
A California District Court granted certification to a group of SeaWorld investors in a shareholder securities fraud case following the release of the documentary “Blackfish.” First released in July 2013, “Blackfish” chronicles the cruelty of killer whale capture methods, the danger posed by killer whales to trainers, and the physical and psychological strains killer whales experience in captivity. The movie resulted in significant negative publicity for SeaWorld and ... Keep Reading »
Supreme Court Asked to Resolve Circuit Split Over Applicability of American Pipe Tolling to Successive Class Actions
We previously blogged on whether the Supreme Court’s ruling in American Pipe applies to toll the statute of limitations for successive putative class actions. In Resh v. China Agritech, Inc., the Ninth Circuit held that American Pipe tolled the limitations period for putative class actions by absent class members — thus theoretically permitting endless relitigation of certification denials. As we predicted, a defendant in Resh has filed a petition for writ of certiorari ... Keep Reading »
Ninth Circuit Expands American Pipe Tolling to Subsequent Securities Class Action by Unnamed Class Members, but Leaves Related Comity and Issue Preclusion Questions for Another Day
The Ninth Circuit in Resh v. China Agritech, Inc., No. 15-55432, 2017 WL 2261024 (9th Cir. May 24, 2017), revived the third successive putative shareholder class action against a fertilizer manufacturer after the district court dismissed this last case as untimely. By reversing the lower court’s holding that the case was time-barred, the Ninth Circuit expanded the American Pipe tolling rule (as further expanded by Crown Cork) to allow the individual claims of unnamed ... Keep Reading »
Supreme Court to Resolve Whether Failure to Disclose Under Item 303 of SEC Regulation S-K Gives Rise to Securities Fraud Claims
On March 27, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in the case of Leidos Inc., f/k/a SAIC Inc. v. Indiana Public Retirement System, a securities fraud class action. The case will resolve a circuit split over whether a failure to disclose under Item 303 of SEC Regulation S-K can give rise to a claim under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. Investor plaintiffs brought a putative class action against Science Applications International ... Keep Reading »
Cy Pres Standard Dispute Settled With Reasonable Approximation
The District Court for the Southern District of New York recently addressed whether the “next best” or “reasonable approximation” standard should apply when the court evaluates proposed cy pres designations in class action settlements. Observing that the Second Circuit had not definitively resolved this issue to date, the district court engaged in a thorough evaluation of the origins, justifications, and policy implications of the two standards. In the end, the court ... Keep Reading »
No Repose for Debate on Applicability of American Pipe Tolling
In its seminal 1974 American Pipe opinion, the Supreme Court held that the commencement of a class action tolls the applicable statutes of limitation as to all putative class members who would have been parties had the class been certified. Since then, courts have repeatedly applied American Pipe to toll statutes of limitation but disagreed as to whether the doctrine is based on legal principals under Rule 23 or the equitable power of the courts. The Eleventh Circuit ... Keep Reading »