Bill Lerach gave the best motion to dismiss oral argument I’ve ever seen. Using a stock-price chart with key events and allegations plotted along the alleged class period, he told the complaint’s story with a wooden pointer and his superb narrative skill. Far too often, plaintiffs’ and defense lawyers get bogged down in the nitty-gritty
Motions to Dismiss
D&O Discourse is 11 Years Old
I started the D&O Discourse blog in October 2012 to generate discussion among the repeat players in securities and corporate governance litigation: insurers, brokers, mediators, economists, plaintiffs’ counsel, and defense counsel. While I share opinions from a defense-counsel perspective, I call it like I see it.
Here are five of my favorite posts – well…
Putting All Our Eggs in One Basket: Effective Securities Class Action Defense Must Look Beyond the Motion to Dismiss
The Reform Act was passed by the Contract-with-America Congress to address its perception that securities class actions were reflexive, lawyer-driven litigation that often asserted weak claims based on little more than a stock drop, and relied on post-litigation discovery, rather than pre-litigation investigation, to sort the validity of the claims.
The Reform Act’s centerpiece is…
Analysis of Biotech Securities Class Action Motion to Dismiss Decisions, 2005-2022
Five years ago, we surveyed a decade’s worth of federal district court decisions on motions to dismiss securities claims brought against development-stage biotech companies to answer an important question: are these cases more likely to survive a motion to dismiss—and therefore riskier to insure against—than other securities class actions, as D&O insurers have traditionally assumed?…
The State of Securities Litigation: Good Communication is Key to Improving Securities Litigation Outcomes
I am evangelical about the importance of defense counsel working collegially with D&O insurers and brokers – the repeat players in securities and governance litigation – in the defense of litigation against our common clients. In the big picture, this type of collegiality is the key to putting “litigation” back in “securities litigation” and to…
The State of Securities Litigation
In 2012, I started the D&O Discourse blog to have a discussion among the repeat players in securities and corporate governance litigation: insurers, brokers, mediators, economists, plaintiffs’ counsel, and defense counsel. I share opinions from the defense-counsel perspective, but I call it like I see it. For example, in a post in anticipation of the…
Omnicare, Five Years Later: Strategies for Securities Defense Lawyers’ More Effective Use of the Decision
The chance to help Washington Legal Foundation with a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief in the Omnicare case was an honor. Statements of opinion are ubiquitous in corporate communications on issues as diverse as asset valuations, strength of current performance, risk assessments, product quality, loss reserves, and progress toward corporate goals. Many of these opinions…
D&O Discourse is Back!
Hi, everyone:
When I moved to BakerHostetler to lead its firmwide Securities and Governance Litigation Team, I decided to take a break from publishing D&O Discourse — the blog I started in 2012 to provide in-depth opinion on key issues of law and practice in the world of securities and corporate governance litigation. That…
Myths & Misconceptions of Biotech Securities Claims: An Analysis of Motion to Dismiss Results from 2005-2016
By Doug Greene, Genevieve York-Erwin, Michael Tomasulo
I. Introduction
Small, development stage biotech companies are widely considered to be attractive targets for securities actions given the inherent risks of the industry and the volatility of their stock prices. As a result, many of these companies have relatively limited D&O insurance options. But are…
Be Careful What You Wish For, Part I: Does the Reform Act Need Reforming?
The history of securities and corporate governance litigation is full of wishes about the law that we later regret (or will), or are happy were not granted. Many of these are not obvious—and some will surprise people. From certain case-by-case tactical decisions such as establishment of special litigation committees, to the (failed) attempt to abolish…