The battlefield of securities class actions shifted on Monday, with the U.S. Supreme Court giving both plaintiffs and defendants weapons to deploy in what may be an even more intense and costly level of warfare in the future.
Ruling in Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, the court rejected business pleas to reverse a 1988 precedent that breathed life into securities class actions by making it easier for plaintiffs to launch and sustain litigation based on company misstatements. The precedent has forced defendants to settle even flimsy claims and has cost companies billions, critics say.
