Cornerstone, NERA Reports Chronicle Securities Class Action Filings For 2012

Trends in the filing of securities class actions are chronicled in reports issued by Cornerstone Research and NERA Economic Consulting for the first half of 2012. The two reports agree on a number of items but differ on the overall trend regarding the pace of filings. Despite the differences in the reports, the key point which emerges from all the statistics and trends is that a public company has a much more significant chance of being named as a defendant in a securities class action today than several years ago.

Cornerstone Research concludes that "[f]ederal securities class action filing activity in the first half of 2012 has decreased compared with 2011 . . . " Filings were down 6% with 88 cases being brought in the first half of 2012 compared to 94 during the comparable period one year earlier.

Studying the same period NERA concludes that "[s]ecurities class actions filed in Federal court have continued to be filed at their historical pace so far in 2012." This conclusion is based on NERA's finding that 116 actions have been filed in the first half of 2012. If filings continue at this pace, the Report projects that 232 securities class actions will be brought this year which would exceed the 234 filed in 2011. It would also be the largest number of cases brought since 2008 when 244 were filed.

Click here to read the entire post.

For more cutting edge commentary on developing securities issues, visit SEC Actions, a blog by Thomas Gorman.

For more information about LexisNexis products and solutions connect with us through our corporate site.