Securities Law

Investor Case Produced Big PR Battle

The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments today in a case that will determine whether investors can sue company advisers—including lawyers—for aiding fraud. The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports that the case has resulted in a big public relations battle between the securities-class-action trial bar and big business. Overseeing much…

Oct 9, 2007 1:04 PM CDT

Colorful Comparisons Show Fraud Case’s Implications

Law professors are drawing on colorful comparisons to stress the importance of a lawsuit that seeks to hold third parties accountable for corporate wrongdoing. In Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Scientific-Atlanta Inc., No. 06-43, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether to permit lawsuits against lawyers and other professionals who participate…

Oct 5, 2007 5:03 PM CDT

Judge Goes Easy on Insider-Trading Lawyer Couple

A lawyer couple who pleaded guilty to insider trading will not have to spend any time in prison. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero of New York noted that defendant Christopher Collotta, 34, suffers from heart problems caused by a battle with cancer, the New York Law Journal reports. Collotta was…

Oct 5, 2007 1:01 PM CDT

GC Charges a Case of SEC Sour Grapes?

A former official with the Securities and Exchange Commission thinks his former employer is taking out its frustration over a failed reporting rule on general counsel. A record 10 general counsel have been charged with wrongdoing this year, most in connection with stock options backdating, the National Law Journal reports.…

Oct 2, 2007 1:32 PM CDT

A High-Tech GC Revolving Door

Donald Rosenberg appears to have a habit of replacing high-tech general counsel who leave their posts under a cloud. He is leaving his job at Apple Inc. and being replaced by another Silicon Valley general counsel in what the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) calls “a game of musical chairs.”…

Sep 28, 2007 7:09 PM CDT

Business Cases Back Before Friendly Court

High-profile business cases are back before the U.S. Supreme Court after a term in which the justices handed big wins to corporate defendants in antitrust, patent and securities law cases. The court’s decisions made it more difficult for plaintiffs to get into the courthouse door, targeted discovery costs and tightened…

Sep 28, 2007 6:23 PM CDT

Missing E-Mail Costs Brokerage $12.5 M

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Morgan Stanley said it couldn’t produce a number of e-mails in arbitration cases because they had been destroyed along with the company’s New York City computer servers. But in fact the brokerage reportedly had the e-mails all along on backup files. Now Morgan Stanley has…

Sep 27, 2007 5:16 PM CDT

Cadwalader Sued for Mortgage Transaction

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft is facing a $70 million malpractice suit for helping a client package mortgages for sale to investors. The suit is not tied to the current mortgage meltdown since it involves a 1997 securitization transaction for Nomura Asset Capital Corp., the New York Law Journal reports. However…

Sep 26, 2007 10:49 AM CDT

Sprint’s 30-Day Settlement Total Nears $150 M

With a $57.5 million Kansas class action settlement just announced by Sprint-Nextel Corp., the company’s settlement agreements in three cases during the past month now total nearly $150 million. If approved by the judge in the case, the latest settlement would amount to only a small fraction of the $1.3…

Sep 25, 2007 11:41 PM CDT

Lawyer May Sue Nasdaq for $600 K Loss

A Miami-area lawyer who lost a $600,000 investment in WorldCom stock may pursue his suit against Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. because of an en banc ruling of a federal appeals court. The full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that Nasdaq did not have immunity for ads…

Sep 25, 2007 12:03 PM CDT

Roberts ‘Unrecuses’ in Stoneridge Case

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has apparently sold his stock in Cisco Systems Inc., the parent company of a litigant in a case that could increase liability for law firms. Roberts and Justice Stephen G. Breyer had earlier indicated they would recuse themselves in the case, Stoneridge Investment Partners…

Sep 21, 2007 1:11 PM CDT

Apple CEO, Law Firm May Play Role in GC Case

A well-known law firm and the CEO of Apple Inc. may provide evidence in the civil fraud case against the company’s former general counsel, Nancy Heinen. CEO Steve Jobs has been subpoenaed for a deposition in the Securities and Exchange Commission case against Heinen, who is accused of participating in…

Sep 21, 2007 12:56 PM CDT

Indicted Milberg Founder Vows to Fight

Updated: Indicted today after years of investigation, the 72-year-old co-founder of what was once unquestionably the nation’s most prominent plaintiffs securities firm is vowing to fight the federal case that has already felled three former rainmakers at Milberg Weiss and put the future of the firm at risk. Melvyn Weiss…

Sep 21, 2007 2:08 AM CDT

US: Milberg Weiss Firm Was ‘Racketeering Enterprise’

Updated: In a stunning series of body blows today in an ongoing battle between the government and one of the country’s most powerful plaintiff firms, federal prosecutors in California announced enhanced charges against the firm itself, the indictment of its co-founding partner and the latest plea deal with a former…

Sep 20, 2007 10:10 PM CDT

Firm: Melvyn Weiss Faces Charges

Updated: A founding partner of one of the nation’s most powerful plaintiffs securities law firms is reportedly resigning from a management role in the face of expected new federal charges against both him and the firm in an ongoing case concerning alleged payments of illegal kickbacks to clients. Melvyn Weiss…

Sep 19, 2007 10:22 PM CDT