Securities fraud takes a variety of forms, including misrepresentations and omissions by corporate executives and fund managers, false descriptions of investment products by financial advisors, and market manipulation. Securities fraud litigation, particularly cases brought on a collective basis as class or “mass” actions, are governed by a specialized body of statutory and procedural law, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998, the Securities Act of 1933, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
The high hurdles for adequately pleading securities fraud make early investment crucial, and the large size of the potential judgments makes securities class actions among the most intensively litigated kinds of cases. The scale of the litigation and number of parties in many cases also makes effective case management essential.
As examples of our securities fraud work, we represented:
- public shareholders in an action alleging that S.A.C. Capital Advisors, L.P. and related parties engaged in illegal insider trading in violation of the federal securities laws by selling Elan ADRs and trading options ahead of adverse clinical trial results for an Alzheimer’s disease drug that was central to Elan’s drug development efforts (settled for $135 million);
- public shareholders in an action against against Lumber Liquidators, Inc. and related parties alleging violations of the federal securities laws (settled for $26 million and 1 million shares); and
- public shareholders in an action against MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation and related parties alleging violations of the federal securities laws (settled for $29.7 million).
If you believe you have been the victim of securities fraud, please contact us and we’ll be happy to discuss your matter with you.