Below are high-level takeaways on each topic.
Securities Filings Remain Elevated Despite the Pandemic
Despite unprecedented disruptions to the court system from the COVID-19 pandemic, plaintiffs continued to bring securities class actions at elevated levels in 2020 a sign that filings will remain high in the year ahead. Based on data from Cornerstone Research through September 30, 2020, plaintiffs were on pace to file approximately 375 federal and state securities class actions through the end of the year. Although lower than the more than 400 actions filed in each of the previous three years, this figure substantially exceeds the 261 cases brought, on average, between 2010 and 2019.
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Our Securities Litigation Group examines the path of a securities case coming before the Supreme Court that could change the dynamics of evidence of price impact at the class certification stage.
Overview of the presumption of reliance
Summary of the case on appeal
Potential impact of the Court’s ruling
On December 11, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a petition for writ of certiorari in the case
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., et al., Petitioners v. Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, et al., No. 20-222. The certiorari petition asked the Court to decide whether a defendant in a securities class action may rebut the presumption of classwide reliance that sometimes exists in federal securities cases by pointing to the generic nature of the underlying alleged misrepresentations and thereby show that the statements at issue had no ability to impact the trading price of the security.