For just about any business, the thought of costly and potentially reputation-damaging securities litigation is, at the very least, disconcerting. Since 1997, on the average, 95 companies per year go to court to face class action securities filings and lose billions in trial costs and market capitalization in the process.
The good news for businesses is that in 2013, securities litigation filing levels declined to the lowest they’ve been since before the financial collapse. The rub, however, is that just having a general decrease in the amount of cases going to court doesn’t necessarily mean your company is in the clear. Depending on the industry, the size of the organization, and what tactics the plaintiffs’ bar decides to use in their case, the likelihood of being sued may not be any lower.
