Securities Law

SCOTUS Bars U.S. Shareholder Fraud Suits Based on Foreign-Traded Stock

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that securities plaintiffs cannot sue in U.S. courts for securities fraud involving stocks traded on foreign exchanges. The decision curbs suits by foreign investors who want to use U.S. securities laws to sue for fraud, the Associated Press reports. The case was brought by…

Jun 24, 2010 4:41 PM CDT

IG Says SEC May Have Been Lenient with ‘Prominent Law Firm’ Due to Claimed ‘Significant Ties’

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating allegations that it may have been unduly lenient with an unidentified “prominent law firm” because of a revolving door between the agency and the legal shop, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. In a letter yesterday to Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the…

Jun 16, 2010 8:09 PM CDT

Must SEC Disclose IDs & Discipline for Porn-Watching Lawyers?

The Securities and Exchange Commission nixed a newspaper’s Freedom of Information Act request for the names of some 33 employees and contractors—many of them attorneys—determined by an Office of Inspector General report to have been watching porn on their government computers, on government time. But now a Colorado lawyer has…

Jun 10, 2010 11:02 PM CDT

Alleged Ponzi Schemer Tells Judge He Doesn’t Know How His Lawyers Have Billed $6M So Far

In the last year, insurance companies have paid out more than $6 million to lawyers for Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford, who is accused of masterminding a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. Yet at a hearing last week in an insurance coverage suit, Stanford said he didn’t know what some of…

Jun 1, 2010 7:51 PM CDT

Adviser to Stars Arrested in Alleged Ponzi Scheme Linked to Partner in Prominent Law Firm

An adviser to Hollywood actors and Court TV founder Steven Brill has been accused of using investment money to live lavishly, while diverting control of some of the funds to a partner in a prominent law firm and a national political official. Manhattan moneyman Kenneth I. Starr—no relation to the…

May 28, 2010 12:26 PM CDT

Exec’s ‘Passion’ for NeuTec Pharma Led 2 Lawyers to Buy Stock, Jury Is Told

An executive of NeuTec Pharma had such a “passion” for his company that he told friends and family members “I work for the most amazing company that will save many lives and make me very wealthy one day.” But, although his enthusiasm for the biotech company “rubbed off” on about…

May 26, 2010 6:06 PM CDT

Lehman Paid Jenner $53.5M for Report on Collapse; and $794M in Fees to All Lawyers, Managers

Jenner & Block, the law firm chaired by Lehman Brothers examiner Anton Valukas, has profited handsomely from its investigation into the September 2008 collapse of the giant investment bank. The firm received $53.5 million for more than a year’s work producing a 2,200-page report on the investment bank’s bankruptcy, Bloomberg…

May 21, 2010 10:15 PM CDT

Lawyers at Risk? Proposal Would Overturn Stoneridge Bar to Aiding and Abetting Suits

A proposed amendment to a bill to reform financial regulations would allow lawsuits against lawyers and others who aid and abet corporate fraud. The amendment would essentially overturn Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Scientific-Atlanta, the Washington Post reports. The 2008 Supreme Court decision held that third parties are not liable in…

May 17, 2010 1:01 PM CDT

Judge Blasts Lawyers for Basing Claim on Mistaken Reading of Magazine Article

A Manhattan judge is requiring two securities class action lawyers and their law firms to pay defense costs for filing a complaint based partly on a mistaken reading of a magazine article. Lawyers Kenneth Vianale and Jules Brody and their law firms were ordered to pay attorney fees and costs…

May 14, 2010 2:34 PM CDT

NY AG Probes Whether Banks Gave Misleading Information to Ratings Agencies

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is reportedly investigating eight banks to determine whether they gave misleading information to ratings agencies, resulting in ratings for mortgage products that they knew were too positive. Cuomo has issued subpoenas to eight banks notifying them of the investigation, the New York Times reports.…

May 13, 2010 12:29 PM CDT

Oliver Stone Got Insights from Eliot Spitzer for Latest Wall Street Film

Oliver Stone tapped New York’s former attorney general and governor for help with his new movie featuring Gordon Gekko called Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Stone told Reuters that he got some “very good insights from people like” Eliot Spitzer, who resigned as governor in 2008 in the midst of…

May 13, 2010 12:05 PM CDT

Morgan Stanley Said to Be Under Investigation over Investor Disclosures

The U.S. Attorney in Manhattan is reportedly investigating whether Morgan Stanley misled investors about mortgage-derivative deals it helped create and sometimes bet against. The Wall Street Journal reports on the probe, still said to be in a preliminary stage. Two of the matters under investigation were dubbed “Dead Presidents” deals…

May 12, 2010 2:52 PM CDT

Would-Be Buyers Ogle Ex-Attorney Scott Rothstein’s Forfeited Classic Sports Cars

As the Daily Pulp blog of the Broward-Palm Beach New Times reports a lawyer’s claim that disgraced ex-attorney Scott Rothstein stole $168 million of his $1.4 billion Ponzi scheme proceeds for his own personal use, there isn’t much doubt where some of the money may have gone. At least a…

May 10, 2010 11:28 PM CDT

Goldman Sachs, SEC Reportedly in Settlement Talks

Goldman Sachs lawyers and Securities and Exchange Commission representatives met this week to begin talking about a settlement of the fraud suit against the firm. These preliminary talks were held Tuesday between SEC officials and Goldman co-general counsel Gregory Palm and other lawyers representing the firm, the Wall Street Journal…

May 7, 2010 5:09 PM CDT

White & Williams Acquires 10 Edwards Angell Lawyers for ‘Booming’ D&O Work

Philadelphia-based law firm White & Williams is opening a suburban New York office with 10 lawyers from Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge. The Pleasantville, N.Y., office will focus on directors and officers liability insurance, the Legal Intelligencer reports. The move by the Edwards Angell lawyers, including partner John McCarrick, leaves…

May 5, 2010 2:56 PM CDT