motion to dismiss
The Ten Most Significant Class Action Cases of 2013
2013 did not offer the blockbuster docket in front of the Supreme Court that 2011 did, but that didn’t stop the Court from issuing a number of opinions whose effects will be felt for some time to come. In addition, a number of other courts took bold steps to either support or constrain class…
More Stringent Pleading for Class Actions?
In the several years since the Supreme Court decided Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, scholars and litigators have argued back and forth about the appropriate pleading standard for various kinds of lawsuits. One of the most vociferous parts of that debate is over whether class actions should be subject to…
Empirical Evidence of the Importance of the MTD in Securities Cases
Back in January, NERA Economic Consulting published yet another interesting paper, entitled Dynamic Litigation Analysis: Predicting Securities Class Action Settlements as a Case Evolves, by Dr. Ronald Miller.
Using the data NERA has collected on securities class actions over 20 years, Dr. Miller comes to some interesting conclusions about motions practice in securities…
Securities Class Actions and Forward-Looking Statements – Scandlon v. Blue Coat Sys., Inc.
Blue Coat Systems, Inc. was a web security firm that, in 2008, tried to break into the growing field of wide-area network optimization by acquiring a company called Packeteer, Inc. The move was supposed to secure long-term growth, but arguably had the opposite effect.
On May 27, 2010, Blue Coat issued some financial results and…
The Other Trends in the Mid-Year NERA Report
Last week, NERA Economic Consulting released its latest mid-year report on trends in class-action securities filings. The trend most are mentioning is the decline in the pace of securities settlements, coupled with the fact that settlement amounts remain high. But there are a number of other interesting observations that are worth mentioning. Among them:
Of
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Two Views of Comity in Class Actions
Last week, there were two appellate opinions, one from the Seventh Circuit and one from the Tenth, that are worth some attention. They’re worth discussing together as well, because while only one is really helpful for defendants, both discuss different conceptions of how to argue comity in class actions.
The first is Smentek v. Dart…
CLE Presentation – The Gauntlet: Early Challenges to Class Certification
Earlier today, I had the distinct pleasure of presenting at the CLE International Class Action conference in Los Angeles with an old friend of mine, plaintiff’s lawyer Garrett Wotkyns of Schneider Wallace. The topic was The Gauntlet: Early Challenges to Class Certification, which regular readers will know is a topic near and dear to…
Judge Says “Pfau” to Literary Class Action
Last week, the District of Montana ruled on the defendants’ motion to dismiss in Pfau v. Mortenson (the infamous "Three Cups of Tea" class action). The lawsuit alleged that author Greg Mortenson had made up aspects of his biography in writing and marketing his bestselling memoir Three Cups of Tea. The…
Confidential Witness Confidential – City of Livonia Employees’ Retirement Sys v Boeing
The confidential witness is the bane of the securities defendant’s existence. While there may be some legitimate reasons to keep a witness confidential, the words "Confidential Witness #1" can also hide problems with the plaintiffs’ case, like sloppy research or outright misrepresentation.
How do we know this is the case? Well, many defendants…