Ken C. Joseph, Esq. Managing Director and Head of Disputes practice in Duff & Phelps, recently spoke to Bloomberg Law regarding Courts Create Uncertainty on Securities Cases.
A pair of cases taken to the U.S. Supreme Court could alter the legal landscape for Securities and Exchange Commission fraud litigation. In the balance is investors’ ability to recoup losses from corporate wrongdoing and the potential to spark further litigation. The court recently decided in Lorenzo v. SEC that a defendant could be held liable for taking part in a scheme to defraud investors, even though he was not the primary “maker” of the false statements to shareholders. The newest ruling departed from a trend of Supreme Court decisions that narrowed the scope of who could be held liable in fraud scheme cases.
A firm ruling on the issue from the Supreme Court could have clarified defendant liability in such cases, said Ken C. Joseph. “By denying cert, the court left a lot of open questions rather than setting the record straight on duty to correct. It opens the door for litigants to go forum shopping in such cases.” This article was originally published on Bloomberg Law.
