Using Rule 9(b) to Reduce Nuisance Securities Litigation

The Importance of the Prefiling Phase for Securities-Fraud Litigation

The pleading burden that governs securities-fraud litigation is significantly higher than those standards that govern traditional civil cases. The heightened pleading burden applicable to securities cases has transformed the motion to dismiss into something like summary judgment. In fact, to contend with this heightened pleading burden, plaintiffs typically must spend more time in the prefiling...

Bias of Damage Awards and Free Options in Securities Litigation

Damage measures in securities fraud cases are very imprecise because they are based on security price changes that reflect both the correction of previous misrepresentation and other independent information. Consequently, potential plaintiffs have a valuable “free option” to decide whether or not to file suit, and average damage awards are greater than actual damages, much greater when markets ...

Direct and Derivative Claims in Securities Fraud Litigation

In the typical securities fraud class action under Rule 10b-5, the plaintiff class consists of buyers who seek damages equal to the difference between the price paid for the stock during the fraud period and the lower price that prevails after corrective disclosure. The argument here is that this claim is really an amalgam of direct and derivative claims and that the derivative claims should re...

Rule 11 and Civil Rights Litigation

Does Improved Patient Safety Reduce Malpractice Litigation?

I n recent years, doctors and hospitals have become increasingly committed to improving patient safety. The publication of To Err Is Human in 2000, which trumpeted the scale of preventable injuries in the nation’s hospitals, helped launch the patient safety movement and spur innovative practices and technologies to reduce such injuries. Improved patient safety should also help reduce malpractic...