Last month, D&O insurance lawyer John McCarrick and D&O insurance executive Paul Schiavone published a guest post on Kevin LaCroix’s blog, The D&O Diary, titled “Is it Time to Revisit the Scope of D&O Coverage?” John and Kevin’s post has triggered response posts from four policyholder advocates: Kevin of RT ProExec (response
Securities Class Action
Can We Talk?
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…
Doug Greene and Kristin Beneski Assist Washington Legal Foundation with US Supreme Court Amicus Brief in Cyan Securities Class Action
By Doug Greene on
Posted in Securities Class Action, Supreme Court
Today, my colleague Kristin Beneski and I were honored to file a US Supreme Court amicus brief on behalf of the Washington Legal Foundation (“WLF”) in Cyan, Inc. v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund. In Cyan, the Supreme Court will decide whether state courts have jurisdiction over securities class actions alleging violations of the Securities Act of 1933, or if federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. …
Continue Reading Doug Greene and Kristin Beneski Assist Washington Legal Foundation with US Supreme Court Amicus Brief in Cyan Securities Class Action
From Sea to Shining Sea: The Ninth Circuit Aligns with the Second Circuit in Affirming Omnicare‘s Benefits for Defendants
By Doug Greene on
In a matter of first impression in the Ninth Circuit, the court applied the Supreme Court’s Omnicare standard for pleading the falsity of a statement of opinion in City of Dearborn Heights Act 345 Police & Fire Retirement System v. Align Technology, Inc., — F.3d —, 2017 WL 1753276 (9th Cir. May 5, 2017). …
Wrap-up: “Who is Winning the Securities Class Action War—Plaintiffs or Defendants?”
I am grateful for the enthusiastic feedback I’ve received on my three-part blog post “Who is Winning the Securities Class Action War—Plaintiffs or Defendants?” I especially appreciate the time Kevin LaCroix took to write a post addressing my post in his leading blog, The D&O Diary.
With the benefit of 25 years’ experience…
Who Is Winning the Securities Class Action War—Plaintiffs or Defendants? (Part III)
This is the third of a three-part post that analyzes why plaintiffs are winning the securities class action war and what defendants can do about it.
At stake is a system of securities litigation that sets up one side or the other to win more cases in the long term. It has real-world consequences for…
Who is Winning the Securities Class Action War—Plaintiffs or Defendants? (Part II)
This is the second of a three-part post evaluating who is winning the securities class action war.
Part I explained that this war is not just a scorecard of wins and losses, but rather a fight for strategic positioning—about achieving a system of securities litigation that sets up plaintiffs or defendants to win more cases…
Who is Winning the Securities Class Action War—Plaintiffs or Defendants?
The securities class action war is about far more than the height of the pleading hurdles plaintiffs must clear, the scorecard of motions to dismiss won and lost, or median settlement amounts. It is a fight for strategic positioning—about achieving a system of securities litigation that sets up one side or the other to win…
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 II: Would Companies Be Better Off Without the Fraud-on-the-Market Doctrine?
The villain in the fight against securities class actions is the fraud-on-the-market presumption of reliance established by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1988 in Basic Inc. v. Levinson, 485 U.S. 224 (1988). Without Basic, the thinking goes, a plaintiff could not maintain a securities class action, and without securities class actions, executives could…