When Judge Denny Chin was elevated to the Second Circuit, Judge Kevin Castel volunteered to take over the BofA securities class action. Whatever happens before him, BofA and its lawyers at least know they won't be on the receiving end of angry orders from Judge Rakoff--an experience they're all too familiar with.

Robbins Geller had almost twice as many settlements as Bernstein Litowitz, but Bernstein's cases were a lot bigger.

In the enormous Bank of America securities class action, plaintiffs lawyers seeking the appointment of lead counsel are starting to make the case for themselves--and against their rivals.

District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin U.S. DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK Appearances For Plaintiffs: Curtis Victor Trinko, Es

We've long known that securities class actions have gone global. But a new report by the RiskMetrics Group, which can be accessed here (subscription required), attempts to quantify just how much. For example, from 1996 through 2007, it counts 234 times that an international institutional investor has sought to be named lead plaintiff. The study also notes that in every year since 2002, international investors have filed motions to become lead plaintiff in more then 5 percent of all new federal securities class actions.

We're beginning to reap the consequences of the sweeping Lehman examiner's report. Plaintiffs in a long-pending securities class action have now filed an amended complaint that adds allegations about Lehman's now-infamous Repo 105 balance sheet asset transfers--and adds Lehman's auditor, Ernst & Young, as a defendant.

Manhattan federal judge Kevin Castel dismissed claims relating to BofA's decision to keep mum about mounting Merrill losses, but he said investors had adequately established scienter with regard to BofA's failure to disclose a multibillion dollar Merrill bonus pool.

The judge called the deal "half-baked justice at best," but still "better than nothing." And that's about the best Rakoff had to say for a case that's bedeviled him for six months.

District Judge Richard J. Holwell U.S. DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK Judge Holwell Before the Court are two motions: a motion to dismiss name