Securities Law Commons^™

Kill Cammer: Securities Litigation Without Junk Science, J. B. Heaton

William & Mary Business Law Review

Securities litigation is a hotbed of junk science concerning market efficiency. This Article explains why and suggests a way out. In its 1988 decision in Basic v. Levinson, the Supreme Court endorsed the fraud on the market presumption for securities traded in an efficient market. Faced with the task of determining market efficiency, courts throughout the nation embraced the ad hoc speculations of a first-mover district court that proclaimed, in Cammer v. Bloom, how to allege (and presumably prove) facts that would do just that. The Cammer court’s analysis did not rely on financial economics for its notions, but instead …

Securities Exchange Act Section 4e(A): Toothless "Internal-Timing Directive" Or Statute Of Limitation?, Richard E. Brodsky

William & Mary Business Law Review

The Securities and Exchange Commission has a problem, and everyone knows it: its investigative process suffers from excessive delay, which harms both individuals and entity it investigates and its own enforcement program. This problem has long been recognized and complained about, but never remedied.

In 2010, Congress passed a law specifically designed to solve the problem of excessive delay but, the way the SEC has read the law—which has been acquiesced in by the courts and ignored by subsequent Congresses—has rendered it toothless and essentially meaningless. This has been accomplished, first, by the Commission’s cabined interpretation of the purpose of …

Duties, Disclosure, And Discord: Necessity To Resolve Circuit Split And Certainty Leidos Could Have Clarified For Litigation Strategy And Risk Allocation, Damian P. Gallagher

William & Mary Business Law Review

Securities litigation is a complex, specialized, and detailed practice of the law that depends on the expertise of courts and the Securities and Exchange Commission. From its inception, the securities laws, namely the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, provided a baseline expectation and prescription for the Securities and Exchange Commission to promulgate rules to fulfill the organic statute’s demands. Through time, technology, and the law generally, the securities laws have expanded significantly, not only asking, but also requiring, the courts to answer questions never contemplated by the original drafters of the laws to guide …

"Liberty Requires Accountability": The Appointments Clause, Lucia V. Sec, And The Next Constitutional Controversy, Michael A. Sabino

William & Mary Business Law Review

“Liberty requires accountability” is the essential precept which animates the Appointments Clause of Article II. This constitutional safeguard assures that those who exercise the sovereign power of the United States remain accountable both to the Chief Executive who appointed them and to the People who elected that President. The proviso was most recently tested in Lucia v. SEC, and, most assuredly, shall be in controversy again. After first expositing the high Court’s extensive Appointments Clause jurisprudence presaging Lucia, this Article thoroughly explores this newest Article II landmark, before concluding with commentary upon future Appointments Clause challenges expected to soon …