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Articles 1 - 30 of 40
Full-Text Articles in Law
Brief Of Professors At Law And Business Schools As Amicus Curiae In Support Of Respondents, James D. Cox, J. Robert Brown Jr., Lyman Johnson, Lawrence W. Treece, Joan Macleod Heminway
Brief Of Professors At Law And Business Schools As Amicus Curiae In Support Of Respondents, James D. Cox, J. Robert Brown Jr., Lyman Johnson, Lawrence W. Treece, Joan Macleod Heminway
Faculty Scholarship
This Amicus Brief was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of nearly 50 law and business faculty in the United States and Canada who have a common interest in ensuring a proper interpretation of the statutory securities regulation framework put in place by the U.S. Congress. Specifically, all amici agree that Item 303 of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation S-K creates a duty to disclose for purposes of Rule 10b-5(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
The Court’s affirmation of a duty to disclose would have little effect on existing practice. Under the current state of …
"We're Cool" Statements After Omnicare: Securities Fraud Suits For Failures To Comply With The Law, James D. Cox
"We're Cool" Statements After Omnicare: Securities Fraud Suits For Failures To Comply With The Law, James D. Cox
Faculty Scholarship
As part of a symposium celebrating the multiple contributions of the late Alan Bromberg, this article examines implications flowing from the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Omnicare Inc. v. Laborers District Council Construction Industry Pension Fund. Because Omnicare lands so squarely on the Court’s earlier opaque opinion in Virginia Bankshares, Inc. v. Sandberg addressing the treatment of the materiality of opinion statements, Omnicare is the new currency in the realm that will have far-reaching implications. In Virginia Bankshares, the Supreme Court quickly concluded shareholders would attach significance to the board of directors’ statement that the cash-out merger …
Understanding Causation In Private Securities Lawsuits: Building On Amgen, James D. Cox
Understanding Causation In Private Securities Lawsuits: Building On Amgen, James D. Cox
Faculty Scholarship
With Amgen, the Supreme Court’s majority once again holds that inquiry into the alleged market impact of a misrepresentation is not required to invoke fraud on the market approach to causation so that the class can be certified. Rather than just leaving matters where they have been since the Supreme Court’s muddled encounter with causation in Basic Inc. v. Levinson, the Supreme Court’s most recent decision appears to relax some earlier-held tenets with respect to markets believed sufficiently efficient for fraud on the market to be invoked. This Article not only identifies the central flaw of Basic that has over …
Securities Class Actions As Public Law, James D. Cox
Securities Class Actions As Public Law, James D. Cox
Faculty Scholarship
The Political Economy of Fraud on the Market provides a wide-ranging criticism of and thoughtful reforms for securities class actions....However, both their critique of contemporary class actions and their model of the reforms they propose leave unexamined a good many matters relevant to both the criticism and reform of securities class actions....Bratton and Wachter earn high marks for being less passionate and much more thoughtful than others in the chorus calling for reform; indeed, their observations are among the most thoughtful to be found in this area. Nonetheless, their analysis is incomplete in many important areas, and in addition to …
Rule 10b-5 And The Rise Of The Unjust Enrichment Principle, James J. Park
Rule 10b-5 And The Rise Of The Unjust Enrichment Principle, James J. Park
Duke Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Losing The Loss Calculation: Toward A More Just Sentencing Regime In White-Collar Criminal Cases, Derick R. Vollrath
Losing The Loss Calculation: Toward A More Just Sentencing Regime In White-Collar Criminal Cases, Derick R. Vollrath
Duke Law Journal
The sentencing regime that governs white-collar criminal cases requires reform. The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines recommend sentences that are generally too high and place a grossly disproportionate emphasis on the concept of "loss"-the dollar value of the harm that a court finds a white-collar criminal to have caused. This concept of loss is ill defined, and often artificial to the point of being arbitrary. Moreover, the loss calculation fails to adequately approximate a defendant's culpability, dwarfing traditionally relevant considerations such as the manner in which the defendant committed the crime and the defendant's motive for doing so. Fortunately, the Supreme Court …
Mapping The American Shareholder Litigation Experience: A Survey Of Empirical Studies Of The Enforcement Of The U.S. Securities Law, James D. Cox, Randall S. Thomas
Mapping The American Shareholder Litigation Experience: A Survey Of Empirical Studies Of The Enforcement Of The U.S. Securities Law, James D. Cox, Randall S. Thomas
Faculty Scholarship
In this paper, we provide an overview of the most significant empirical research that has been conducted in recent years on the public and private enforcement of the federal securities laws. The existing studies of the U.S. enforcement system provide a rich tapestry for assessing the value of enforcement, both private and public, as well as market penalties for fraudulent financial reporting practices. The relevance of the U.S. experience is made broader by the introduction through the PSLRA in late 1995 of new procedures for the conduct of private suits and the numerous efforts to evaluate the effects of those …
Lying And Getting Caught: An Empirical Study Of The Effect Of Securities Class Action Settlements On Targeted Firms, James D. Cox, Lynn Bai, Randall S. Thomas
Lying And Getting Caught: An Empirical Study Of The Effect Of Securities Class Action Settlements On Targeted Firms, James D. Cox, Lynn Bai, Randall S. Thomas
Faculty Scholarship
The ongoing Great Recession has triggered numerous proposals to improve the regulation of financial markets and, most importantly, the regulation of organizations such as credit rating agencies, underwriters, hedge funds, and banks, whose behavior is believed to have caused the credit crisis that spawned the economic collapse. Not surprisingly, some of the reform efforts seek to strengthen the use of private litigation. Private suits have long been championed as a necessary mechanism not only to compensate investors for harms they suffer from financial frauds but also to enhance deterrence of wrongdoing. However, in recent years there has been a chorus …
Fraud On The Market Gets A Minitrial: Eisen Through In Re Ipo, Patricia Groot
Fraud On The Market Gets A Minitrial: Eisen Through In Re Ipo, Patricia Groot
Duke Law Journal
Securities class actions involve contested pretrial hearings to determine the proper class of plaintiffs. The certification decision often affects the outcome of a case because defendants usually settle if the class is certified, whereas plaintiffs usually abandon the case without trial if certification is denied. Courts disagree, however, over the appropriate class certification procedure. Courts that emphasize efficiency invoke Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin to preclude considering substantive issues during the pretrial hearing. Courts that emphasize the importance of determining the correct class during the pretrial stage follow General Telephone Co. of the Southwest v. Falcon and allow parties to …
Do Differences In Pleading Standards Cause Forum Shopping In Securities Class Actions?: Doctrinal And Empirical Analyses, James D. Cox, Randall S. Thomas, Lynn Bai
Do Differences In Pleading Standards Cause Forum Shopping In Securities Class Actions?: Doctrinal And Empirical Analyses, James D. Cox, Randall S. Thomas, Lynn Bai
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Milberg’S Monopoly: Restoring Honesty And Competition To The Plaintiffs’ Bar, James P. Mcdonald
Milberg’S Monopoly: Restoring Honesty And Competition To The Plaintiffs’ Bar, James P. Mcdonald
Duke Law Journal
When the renowned plaintiffs' firm Milberg Weiss was indicted in 2006 for paying kickbacks to clients, most commentators saw the scandal as the product of five dishonest lawyers. This Note argues that the causes were more complex than the moral shortcomings of a few attorneys; rather, the kickbacks were but one symptom of a deeply flawed system for selecting lead counsel in securities class action lawsuits. Although the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 attempted to curb abusive behavior by the plaintiffs' bar, its focus on reforming plaintiff behavior meant that attorneys were left relatively free to continue using …
Freedom To Defraud: Stoneridge, Primary Liability, And The Need To Properly Define Section 10(B), Travis S. Souza
Freedom To Defraud: Stoneridge, Primary Liability, And The Need To Properly Define Section 10(B), Travis S. Souza
Duke Law Journal
In Stoneridge Investment Partners, LLC v. Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., the Supreme Court determined that primary liability under section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act does not extend to third-party actors engaged in sham transactions, even when such transactions have the purpose and effect of deceiving investors. The Court reasoned that there is no liability when an actor's deceptive conduct is not communicated directly to investors. This Note argues that the Supreme Court misinterpreted section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 and that policy considerations weigh in favor of using securities fraud litigation to deter culpable actors. It argues both for the substantial participation …
Reforming Punishment Of Financial Reporting Fraud, Samuel W. Buell
Reforming Punishment Of Financial Reporting Fraud, Samuel W. Buell
Faculty Scholarship
Present sentencing law in criminal cases of financial reporting fraud is embarrassingly flawed. The problem is urgent given that courts are now regularly sentencing corporate offenders, sometimes (but sometimes not) to extremely punitive terms of imprisonment. Policing of fraud by multiple jurisdictions in a federal system means that principled sentencing law is necessary not only for first-order policy reasons but also for coordination of sanctioning efforts. Proportionality and rationality demand that sentencing law have an agreed scale for measuring cases of financial reporting fraud in relation to each other, a sound methodology for fixing a given case on that scale, …
Novel Criminal Fraud, Samuel W. Buell
Novel Criminal Fraud, Samuel W. Buell
Faculty Scholarship
The crime of fraud has been underdescribed and undertheorized, both as a wrong and as a legal prohibition. These deficits contribute to contention and uncertainty over the practice of punishing white-collar crime. This Article provides a fuller account of criminal fraud, describing fraud law's open-textured, common-law, and adaptive qualities and explaining how fraud law develops along its leading edge while limiting violence to the legality principle. The legal system has a surprising, often overlooked methodology for resolving whether to treat novel commercial behaviors as frauds: Courts and enforcers often conduct an ex post examination of whether an actor's mental state …
Does The Plaintiff Matter?: An Empirical Analysis Of Lead Plaintiffs In Securities Class Actions, James D. Cox, Randall S. Thomas, Dana Kiku
Does The Plaintiff Matter?: An Empirical Analysis Of Lead Plaintiffs In Securities Class Actions, James D. Cox, Randall S. Thomas, Dana Kiku
Faculty Scholarship
With the enactment of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLR) the U.S. Congress introduced sweeping substantive and procedural reforms for securities class actions. A central provision of the Act is the lead plaintiff provision, which creates a rebuttable presumption that the investor with the largest financial interest in a securities fraud class action should be appointed the lead plaintiff for the suit. The lead plaintiff provision was adopted to encourage a class member with a large financial stake to become the class representative. Congress expected that such a plaintiff would actively monitor the conduct of a securities …
Letting Billions Slip Through Your Fingers: Empirical Evidence And Legal Implications Of The Failure Of Financial Institutions To Participate In Securities Class Action Settlements, James D. Cox, Randall S. Thomas
Letting Billions Slip Through Your Fingers: Empirical Evidence And Legal Implications Of The Failure Of Financial Institutions To Participate In Securities Class Action Settlements, James D. Cox, Randall S. Thomas
Faculty Scholarship
In a pilot study we published two years ago, we reported that nearly two-thirds of the institutional investors with financial losses in 53 settled securities class actions fail to submit claims. As a consequence of this failure substantial sums they were entitled to receive were given to others. This article presents the results of a much more extensive investigation of the frequency with which financial institutions submit claims in settled securities class actions. We combine an empirical study of a much larger set of settlements with the results of a survey of institutional investors about their claims filing practices. Consistent …
The Muddled Duty To Disclose Under Rule 10b-5, Donald C. Langevoort, G. Mitu Gulati
The Muddled Duty To Disclose Under Rule 10b-5, Donald C. Langevoort, G. Mitu Gulati
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Sec Enforcement Heuristics: An Empirical Inquiry, James D. Cox, Randall S. Thomas, Dana Kiku
Sec Enforcement Heuristics: An Empirical Inquiry, James D. Cox, Randall S. Thomas, Dana Kiku
Duke Law Journal
This Article examines the overlap between SEC securities enforcement actions and private securities fraud class actions. We begin with an overview of data concerning all SEC enforcement actions from 1997 to 2002. We find that the volume of SEC enforcement proceedings is relatively modest. We next examine the scope of the recently enacted "Fair Fund" provision that authorizes the SEC to designate civil penalties it recovers from defendants to benefit defrauded private investors. We conclude that this provision offers only limited potential relief for private investors. We complete this Part of the Article with an analysis of the serious resource …
The Scope Of Bar Orders In Federal Securities Fraud Settlements, David Kaplan
The Scope Of Bar Orders In Federal Securities Fraud Settlements, David Kaplan
Duke Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Aggregation, Auctions, And Other Developments In The Selection Of Lead Counsel Under The Pslra, Jill E. Fisch
Aggregation, Auctions, And Other Developments In The Selection Of Lead Counsel Under The Pslra, Jill E. Fisch
Law and Contemporary Problems
No abstract provided.
A Comparison Of Trading Models Used For Calculating Aggregate Damages In Securities Litigation, Michael Barclay, Frank C. Torchio
A Comparison Of Trading Models Used For Calculating Aggregate Damages In Securities Litigation, Michael Barclay, Frank C. Torchio
Law and Contemporary Problems
No abstract provided.
Beyond “It Just Ain’T Worth It”: Alternative Strategies For Damage Class Action Reform, Deborah R. Hensler, Thomas D. Rowe Jr.
Beyond “It Just Ain’T Worth It”: Alternative Strategies For Damage Class Action Reform, Deborah R. Hensler, Thomas D. Rowe Jr.
Law and Contemporary Problems
No abstract provided.
The Nontrial Adversarial Model, Joel Seligman
The Nontrial Adversarial Model, Joel Seligman
Law and Contemporary Problems
No abstract provided.
Contingent Fees And Tort Reform: A Reassessment And Reality Check, Elihu Inselbuch
Contingent Fees And Tort Reform: A Reassessment And Reality Check, Elihu Inselbuch
Law and Contemporary Problems
No abstract provided.
Pleading Securities Fraud, Elliott J. Weiss
Pleading Securities Fraud, Elliott J. Weiss
Law and Contemporary Problems
No abstract provided.
Ulysses Tied To The Generic Whipping Post: The Continuing Odyssey Of Discovery “Reform”, Jeffrey W. Stempel
Ulysses Tied To The Generic Whipping Post: The Continuing Odyssey Of Discovery “Reform”, Jeffrey W. Stempel
Law and Contemporary Problems
No abstract provided.
Loser-Pays—Or Whose “Fault” Is It Anyway: A Response To Hensler-Rowe’S “Beyond ‘It Just Ain’T Worth It’”, Marc I. Gross
Loser-Pays—Or Whose “Fault” Is It Anyway: A Response To Hensler-Rowe’S “Beyond ‘It Just Ain’T Worth It’”, Marc I. Gross
Law and Contemporary Problems
No abstract provided.
Deterrence Of Corporate Fraud Through Securities Litigation: The Role Of Institutional Investors, Keith L. Johnson
Deterrence Of Corporate Fraud Through Securities Litigation: The Role Of Institutional Investors, Keith L. Johnson
Law and Contemporary Problems
Johnson suggests that institutions are uniquely positioned to enhance the deterrence function of securities litigation without undermining the compensation goal.
Federalism And Investor Protection: Constitutional Restraints On Preemption Of State Remedies For Securities Fraud, Manning Gilbert Warren Iii
Federalism And Investor Protection: Constitutional Restraints On Preemption Of State Remedies For Securities Fraud, Manning Gilbert Warren Iii
Law and Contemporary Problems
Warren discusses the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act and the National Securities Market Improvement Act, among other issues. Predominant federalism postulates foreclose the proposed intrusion into investors' tort remedies traditionally allowed by the states under common law.
Preempting Unintended Consequences, A. A. Sommer Jr.
Preempting Unintended Consequences, A. A. Sommer Jr.
Law and Contemporary Problems
Sommer offers some insights on preemption. The case for preemption is that there is an inherent logic and consistency in having litigation involving nationally traded securities resolved in a single forum.