Institutional Investor Class Action Recovery

The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently issued a summary dismissal denying a number of objections to the Settlement Agreement reached in Hill v. State Street Corporation.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently reversed the dismissal of a securities fraud class action against Harman International Industries Inc., holding that the “safe harbor” for forward looking statements did not apply to the statements at issue.  In re Harman Int’l Inds., Inc. Sec. Litig., -- F.3d --, No. 14-7017 (D.C.Cir. June 23, 2015).

With the increasing barriers to successfully prosecuting a securities fraud case in the United States, including the jurisdictional limitations caused by the Morrison decision, institutional investors are sometimes now looking to other jurisdictions to sometime recover their losses. 

The Southern District of Ohio recently reached an interesting decision that may be relevant to institutional investors in Pharos Capital Partners, L.P. v. Touche, L.L.P. (In re Nat’l Century Fin. Enters.), 905 F. Supp. 2d 814 (S.D. Ohio 2012).

The United States Court of Federal Claims recently issued an Order in Starr International Company, Inc. v. United States, No. 11-779C, regarding the consequences of an intentional waiver of the attorney-client privilege by the United States Government.

We posted on June 11 about some novel arguments used by Vivendi Universal, S.A. (“Vivendi”) as part of its defense against Southeastern Asset Management, Inc. (“Southeastern”), a class member in In re Vivendi Universal, S.A. Securities Litigation, 02 Civ. 5571 (SAS) (S.D.N.Y.).

The long-running In re Vivendi Universal, S.A. Securities Litigation, 02 Civ. 5571 (SAS) (S.D.N.Y.), recently took an interesting turn as defendant Vivendi Universal, S.A. has deployed some unusual arguments in opposing the recovery of certain class-action members.

A Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts recently issued a Report and Recommendation ("R&R") on the Lead Plaintiffs’ Motion for Final Approval of Class Action Settlement and Plan of Allocation in Hill v. State Street Corporation.

On March 19, 2015, in what can be characterized as terse and sternly worded Memorandum Order (the “Order”), Judge Swain of the Southern District denied a Motion to Sever Individual Claims (the “Motion to Sever”) filed by three funds managed by D. E. Shaw & Co (the “D. E. Shaw Funds”). 

In the context of our representation of institutional investors, our experience reveals that they have been confronting an increasingly difficult process in recovering their losses from alleged violations of securities laws. 

On June 25, 2013, Delaware Chancellor Strine issued a fulsome opinion upholding the power of Delaware boards to amend corporate bylaws to include binding forum selection provisions.

A recent federal appeals court decision addressing pleading standards for shareholder suits under Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, highlights the potential dangers of giving broad assurances of legal compliance in registration statements.

Mintz's Class Action Monitoring and Recovery practice represents mutual funds, institutional investors, public pension funds, trusts, investment advisors, and individuals as claimants in securities and antitrust class actions and regulatory settlements throughout the nation.