Securities Cases
Enron – Corporate Malfeasance
In re Enron Corp. Sec., Derivative & “ERISA” Litigation, H-01-3624 (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas)
We serve as Washington counsel in the Enron-related securities litigation led by the Regents of the University of California. Working under the leadership of the court-approved lead counsel, the firm has worked on a host of projects in this mammoth securities case. At times, we have worked on a day-to-day basis with lead counsel on matters of critical importance to the case. The firm has prepared memoranda on a number of specific legal topics, protected the interests of Enron investors before Congress (especially in the Congressional debate leading to the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002), and consulted on many public and policy aspects of this litigation. The plaintiffs’ team has already recovered over $7 billion on behalf of injured parties, the largest fraud recovery in history.
In March 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit reversed the lower court’s class certification order in Enron, which halted the progress of the case against the remaining investment bank defendants. The court found that, although the conduct of the banks “was hardly praiseworthy,” the banks had not themselves made false statements to the market, and therefore, could not be liable in a class action for securities fraud. A petition for certiorari in Enron is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. In the meantime, the Court has accepted for review a securities case, entitled Stoneridge Investment Partners, LLC v. Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. and Motorola, Inc., in which the same question of third party liability is at issue. The Court’s ruling in Stoneridge will likely control the Enron case. Our firm has written an amicus brief in Stoneridge on behalf of AARP, the Consumer Federation of America and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. We also assisted Enron class members in their efforts to persuade the U.S. government to take a pro-investor position in Stoneridge.
For additional information, please contact Jonathan W. Cuneo, Pamela Gilbert, or Michael G. Lenett.
Pleading Standard Under Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd, 06-484 (U.S. Supreme Court)
The firm filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of Public Citizen and The Center for Study of Responsive Law (a Ralph Nader organization) addressing the heightened pleading standard under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA). We urged the Court to interpret that standard to ensure that the PSLRA’s pleading standard comports with the burden of proof and to guarantee the Seventh Amendment right to trial by jury.
For additional information, please contact Jonathan W. Cuneo, R., Brent Walton, or Matthew Wiener.
WorldCom – Corporate Malfeasance
In re WorldCom, Inc., Securities Litigation, 02 Civ. 3288 (DLC)
We assisted lead counsel and the lead plaintiff, the New York Common Public Retirement Fund, in this enormous securities class action. First, we served as Washington counsel, monitoring relevant Congressional and regulatory developments, especially during the Congressional debate leading to the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Second, one of the firm’s former partners served as a trial consultant in the 2005 trial against Arthur Anderson. The plaintiff’s team collected in excess of $6 billion, the second largest fraud recovery in history.
For additional information, please contact Jonathan W. Cuneo.