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The World Health Organization has labelled novel coronavirus (COVID-19) a pandemic and the global number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has surpassed 150,000.  Companies suffering losses that they believe are attributable to COVID-19 or desiring to seek insurance to potentially cover losses resulting from COVID-19, should discuss these issues with their insurance broker(s) and risk manager(s) to assess the extent of coverage available.  While the exact legal duties owed by insurance brokers to their clients vary from state-to-state, brokers are typically required to use at least reasonable care, diligence and judgment in procuring the insurance coverage requested by an insured.
Continue Reading Insurance Considerations for Companies Impacted by Coronavirus

In North Sound Capital, LLC v. Merck & Co, Inc., No. 18-2317, 2019 WL 4309663, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 27518 (3d Cir. Sept. 12, 2019), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed a New Jersey district court ruling, which held that the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998 (“SLUSA”) precluded state law claims in lawsuits brought by investors who opted-out of class action lawsuits. In reversing, the Third Circuit determined that the opt-out plaintiffs could indeed bring their state law fraud claims against the same defendants as the class action lawsuits because their subsequently filed suits did not fall within the definition of a “covered class action” under SLUSA. The decision provides helpful guidance as to whether investors who choose to opt-out of class action lawsuits may be precluded under SLUSA from proceeding with individual lawsuits seeking similar relief.
Continue Reading Third Circuit Holds that SLUSA Does Not Preclude Class Action Opt-Outs from Pursuing Individual Actions

In Apple Inc. v. Superior Court, No. H044133, 2017 WL 6275830 (Cal. App. Dec. 11, 2017), the California Court of Appeal, Sixth District, considered whether a plaintiff asserting a shareholder derivative lawsuit must plead demand futility with respect to the board of directors in place at the time of the filing of the amended complaint or the initial complaint, when the composition of the board has changed in the interim. The Court of Appeal, following the rule enunciated by the Delaware Supreme Court in Braddock v. Zimmerman, 906 A.2d 775 (Del. 2006), concluded that pleading of demand futility must be assessed with respect to the board of directors in place at the time the amended complaint is filed. This decision reflects the tendency by California courts to look to Delaware corporate law on issues related to shareholder derivative litigation.
Continue Reading California Court of Appeal Holds that Demand Futility Must be Reassessed at Time of Filing of Amended Complaint

In Waggoner v. Barclays PLC, No. 16-1912 (2d Cir. Nov. 6, 2017), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in a Rule 10b-5 securities fraud action, affirmed the district court’s order granting class certification and, in the process, made a number of significant rulings including concluding that direct evidence of price impact is not always necessary to demonstrate market efficiency and confirming that defendants seeking to rebut the fraud-on-the-market presumption must do so by a preponderance of evidence. The decision will potentially make it easier for securities fraud plaintiffs seeking class certification to demonstrate market efficiency, including, for example, when the securities at issue are not traded on national exchanges.
Continue Reading Second Circuit Affirms Class Certification Holding that Direct Evidence of Price Impact is Not Always Necessary to Demonstrate Market Efficiency

In Salman v. United States, No. 15-628, 580 U.S. ___, 2016 WL 7078448 (2016), the United States Supreme Court (Alito, J.) unanimously affirmed the insider trading conviction of petitioner Bassam Salman on the ground that Mr. Salman’s brother-in-law had breached his fiduciary duty by making a gift of confidential information to a “trading relative or friend.”  In doing so, the Supreme Court adhered to its prior ruling in Dirks v. SEC, 463 U.S. 646 (1983), and rejected a more lenient application of insider trading liability that the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit had adopted in United States v. Newman, 773 F.3d 438 (2d Cir. 2014).
Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Confirms that a Corporate Insider Receives a “Personal Benefit” by Providing Confidential Information to a Trading Relative or Friend, Affirming Conviction for Insider Trading

In IBEW Local 98 Pension Fund v. Best Buy Co., Inc., No. 14-3178 (8th Cir. Apr. 12, 2016), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held, in a Rule 10b-5 securities fraud action, that the district court incorrectly analyzed the price-impact evidence submitted by defendants to rebut the fraud-on-the-market presumption of reliance that plaintiffs had invoked to satisfy Rule 23(b)(3)’s predominance requirement.  Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Haliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc., 134 S.Ct. 2398, 2414-16 (2014) (Halliburton II), recognized a defendant’s right to rebut the presumption using price-impact evidence at the class-certification stage.  Based on Haliburton II, the majority panel determined that defendants had submitted “overwhelming” evidence that the alleged misstatement caused no stock price inflation.  The panel rejected plaintiffs’ theory that the misstatement could nevertheless have “maintained” the stock’s already-inflated price at the allegedly inflated level.  The decision importantly limits the fraud-on-the-market presumption to cases in which the alleged misstatement is the independent cause of new or additional stock price inflation.
Continue Reading Eighth Circuit Reverses District Court for Ignoring Price-Impact Evidence That Rebutted the Fraud-on-the-Market Presumption and Defeated Class Certification

In Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc., No. 13-317, __ S Ct. __, 2014 WL 2807181 (U.S. June 23, 2014), the United States Supreme Court refused to overturn the landmark decision Basic v. Levinson, but ruled that securities class action defendants may rebut the fraud-on-the-market presumption of investor reliance before the class certification stage by demonstrating lack of price impact.
Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Decision Gives More Latitude to Defeat Securities Fraud Class Action Lawsuits Prior to Class Certification