Discussion of Key Issues in Securities & Governance Litigation
I. Introduction
I’ve seen many changes during the more than 30 years I’ve defended securities class actions. The types of claims have evolved. From the indiscriminate claims that led Congress to pass the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (“Reform Act”), to the IPO laddering claims of the late 1990s, to the corporate-scandal claims…
In my May post, Making Better Judgments about Summary Judgment in Securities Class Actions, I discussed how we can pick more cases to defend through summary judgment. But, of course, the vast majority of cases will still settle, so we need to discuss how to improve mediation outcomes.
Far too often, defense counsel sets…
“Securities litigation” isn’t really “litigation” anymore. For the first 15 years of my career, securities class actions that were not dismissed would head into litigation, where we would test class certification, map out our summary judgment motion, and engage in fact discovery designed to establish the facts we needed to prevail on the merits. A…
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…