This column reports on several significant representative decisions handed down recently in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall dismissed plaintiff’s claims under §§11 and 15 of the Securities Act based on alleged failures to disclose COVID-related risks. Judge Ann M. Donnelly granted in part plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in an action challenging Nassau County’s seizure of vehicles on constitutional grounds. And Judge Hector Gonzalez held that defendant’s plea waiver was unenforceable because the statute underlying the conviction had been rendered unconstitutional in another case.

Securities Act

In Gutman v. Lizhi, 21 CV 1850 (EDNY, Sept. 30, 2022), Judge DeArcy Hall dismissed plaintiff’s claims in a putative class action against numerous defendants for violations of §§11 and 15 of the Securities Act, 15 U.S.C. §§77k, 77o(a), finding that disclosure of the impact of COVID-19 was not necessary at the time of defendant Lizhi’s filings.