[email protected]
+1 (212) 754 9000

Tesser Ryan Blog

Federal District Court Denies Motion for Reconsideration for Appointment as Lead Plaintiff in Contested Securities Litigation Suit

20 Oct 2011
0

By Lewis Tesser, Partner, and Timothy Nolen, Associate

A recent opinion out of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York demonstrates a common dispute in securities litigation: choosing a lead plaintiff. The litigation concerned issues of business law, securities law, corporate law and civil procedure.

The case, In Re Weatherford International Securities Litigation, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72569 (S.D.N.Y. July 6, 2011), involved a dispute between plaintiffs—all who wanted to be appointed as the lead plaintiff in a securities class action suit. Specifically, three pension funds each requested that the Court re-consider its decision appointing a different pension fund as lead plaintiff. They argued that the lead plaintiff had misrepresented the amount of shares it retained at the end of the class period and that the measurement of the lead plaintiff’s damages may have been improper. The Court rejected their arguments, noting that choosing the proper accounting method to measure damages is “a context-specific determination.” Therefore, the Court denied the claims of each of the plaintiffs.

In Re Weatherford demonstrates how choosing a lead plaintiff can often be a difficult and contentious task. At Tesser, Ryan & Rochman, LLP, our years of experience with business law and the intricacies of civil procedure allows us to navigate procedural issues that can arise in complex litigation.

, , , , , , , ,

About Post Author

mm

Lewis Tesser is a senior partner in the New York law firm of Tesser, Ryan & Rochman, LLP, concentrating his practice in litigation and mediation, representing licensed professionals and professional practices, administrative law and commercial law. Lew Tesser is Vice-President of the New York County Lawyers’ Association and Director of its Ethics Institute. Prior to private practice, Mr. Tesser was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York. In that capacity, he represented various agencies of the United States government in litigation in the United States District Court and United States Court of Appeals. Mr. Tesser also served as a Judge Advocate in the United States Army where he prosecuted and defended criminal cases and was the chief legal advisor to the Commanding General of the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He also has served as an Arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, New York City Civil Court, a Judge for the Environmental Control Board of the City of New York and a lecturer for various Bar Associations and New York area law schools. Mr. Tesser, who was admitted to practice in 1971, is a 1970 Honors graduate from the National Law Center, George Washington University, a Masters graduate from the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania (l974) and a graduate of the Harvard Law School Program of Instruction for Lawyers. He is a past President of Congregation Sons of Israel, Nyack, NY. Publications and Speaking Engagements Editor-In-Chief, “The New York Rules of Professional Conduct Annotated”, Oxford University Press, New York, 2010. A complete list of Mr. Tesser’s speaking engagements and publications is available if you would like to learn more about Mr. Tesser’s work. Representative Cases In Re Zhang, 376 Fed. Appx. 104 (2d Cir. 2010) Continental Casualty Co. v. JBS Construct. Mgmt., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85467 (S.D.N.Y. 2010)

Leave a Reply

Tesser, Ryan, & Rochman Blog

At Tesser, Ryan, & Rochman we are committed to keeping current, former, and future clients up to date. Here on our blog we will have news regarding our firm, as well as business analysis, various cases, case studies, and legal findings for the benefit of our clients.