Discussion of Key Issues in Securities & Governance Litigation
The most frequent question I’ve been asked about the SEC’s proposed SPAC rules concerns the provision that would make unavailable the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act’s safe harbor for forward-looking statements with respect to de-SPAC transactions: would this change increase the risk that SPACs and de-SPACs face in securities litigation?
Not much. Public companies understandably…
The history of securities litigation is marked by waves: from the IPO laddering cases, to the Sarbanes-Oxley era corporate scandal cases, to stock options backdating, to the credit crisis, to the Chinese reverse-merger cases, to event-driven/lawsuit blueprint cases, certain types of cases have predominated at different times.
Are we entering a wave of COVID-19…
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…
In Salzberg, et al. v. Sciabacucchi, No. 346, 2019 (Del. Mar. 18, 2020) (“Blue Apron”), the Delaware Supreme Court upheld the facial validity of federal-forum provisions (FFPs) in a Delaware corporation’s certificate of incorporation requiring actions arising under the Securities Act of 1933 to be filed exclusively in federal court. Here is Kevin LaCroix’s…
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…
How will the 2017 arrival of Justice Neil Gorsuch influence the US Supreme Court’s securities-fraud jurisprudence?
My colleague Kristin Beneski and I discuss this question in a Washington Legal Foundation Working Paper titled “US Supreme Court Securities-Fraud Jurisprudence: An Emerging New Direction?”
In our Working Paper, we analyze whether Justice Gorsuch may urge…
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). …
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…
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…
Following is an article I wrote for Law360, which gave me permission to republish it here:
Among securities litigators, there is no consensus about the importance of developments in securities and corporate governance litigation. For some, a Supreme Court decision is always supreme. For others, a major change in a legal standard is the most…