Along with college basketball championships and the beginning of a new baseball season, March also signals the release of PwC’s annual securities litigation report. The results are in for 2009, as the fallout from the economic crisis shifts from financial services to other industries.
According to the 55-page report, federal class action filings fell from 210 in 2008 to 155 last year. There were 51 filings directly related to the financial crisis in 2009, compared with 99 in 2008. It was the second straight year that financial services firms bore the brunt of new securities filings, and while the overall numbers decreased, PwC believes that plaintiffs lawyers are likely looking for new targets.