Summary Judgment for Defendants Denied in Loestrin Antitrust Case
In a recent Opinion and Order, Chief Judge William E. Smith of the District of Rhode Island denied summary judgment for Defendants Warner Chilcott and Watson (now part of Allergan) in an antitrust case alleging that Defendants conspired to delay market entry of less expensive generic Loestrin 24. Plaintiffs' allegations include patent fraud, ...
The International Organization of Securities Commissions Requests Feedback Related to Conflicts of Interest and Blockchain in Debt Capital Raising
According to Law360, the board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions ("IOSCO"), an international collective of securities regulators, recently released a report that asks for feedback from its members related to conflicts of interest and the potential benefits and risks of using blockchain in debt capital raising. The ...
Protective Orders And the Rise of Corporate Secrecy
A recent Reuters Report, entitled "Why Big Business Can Count On Courts To Keep Its Deadly Secrets," has exposed the decades-long lobbying push by large corporations to keep documents and other evidence produced in discovery—much of which is entitled to a presumption of public access—top secret. The report notes how tobacco-industry lobbyists ...
Corporate Social Responsibility And The Rise Of ESG Scores
According to Morningstar Research, socially responsible investing has dramatically increased in 2019. In the first half of the year alone, ESG funds netted $8.4 billion in funding from investors. These funds, named for the environmental, social and governance ("ESG") standards that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments, ...
Largest Class Action Settlement of an Antitrust Case Receives Final Approval
On December 16, 2019, U.S. District Judge Margo K. Brodie of the Eastern District of New York granted final approval to a $6.3 billion settlement between credit card companies and merchants to resolve the merchants' allegations that Visa, Mastercard and several big banks jointly maintained a series of anti-competitive rules that caused merchants ...
Faruqi Obtains Victory In Ninth Circuit in Starbucks Doubleshot Case
On December 20, 2019, the United State Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an order reversing the District Court's decision granting Starbucks' motion to dismiss in Naimi v. Starbucks Corporation, et al., Case No. 2:17-cv-06484-VAP-GJS. Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP represents the plaintiffs in this matter. The plaintiffs' complaint challenges ...
Shareholder Suit Remanded To State Court Under Cyan
On December 6, 2019, U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan for the Eastern District of Tennessee remanded two of three previously removed, and later consolidated, Tennessee state court actions against certain Miller Energy Company directors and officers and underwriters used in an offering of redeemable preferred stock ("Defendants") for violations ...
The Sackler Family Withdrew More Than $10 billion from Purdue Pharma As the Opioid Crisis Grew
According to a report filed on November 16, 2019, the Sackler family withdrew more than $10 billion from Purdue Pharma since January 1, 2008. The 350-page report is a result of an audit commissioned by Purdue Pharma as part of the company's bankruptcy proceedings. Since January 1, 2008, Purdue Pharma distributed $4.1 billion in cash to the ...
Turncoat Ranks Grow in the DOJ’s Industry-Wide Generic Drug Price-Fixing Investigation
Generic drug manufacturer Rising Pharmaceuticals Inc. recently entered a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) to resolve a one-count indictment, announced by the Department of Justice the same day. Rising was charged with conspiring to fix prices and allocate customers for the drug Benazepril HCTZ. In exchange for the DPA, Rising has agreed ...
Survey: As Many As 60 Million Workers in the U.S. Are Bound by Non-Compete Agreements
According to a recent survey by the Economic Policy Institute and the Survey Research Institute at Cornell University, a staggering proportion of the private-sector workforce in the U.S. is bound by non-compete agreements. Specifically, the survey found that anywhere from 28 to 47 percent of employees – in other words, approximately 36 to ...
I only invested in options. Am I a class member?
See informative video here: https://www.faruqilaw.com/uploads/blog/1575588968-i-only-invested-in-options-am-i-a-class-member.mp4 If you only invested in options, then you may or may not qualify as a class member, depending upon the class definition alleged in the complaint. Some class actions include only purchasers who transacted in common ...
What is the lead plaintiff deadline?
See informative video here: https://www.faruqilaw.com/uploads/blog/1575588554-what-is-the-lead-plaintiff-deadline.mp4 The lead plaintiff deadline is the last day that an investor may file a motion with the court requesting to be appointed as the lead plaintiff for that action. When a securities class action is initiated, the person who files ...
Equifax Data Breach Update
On July 22, 2019, Equifax, one of the nation's three large credit reporting agencies, settled a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB"), and 50 U.S. states and territories. The lawsuit alleged that Equifax's failure to take reasonable steps to secure its network—which contained ...
SEC’s Recent Cryptocurrency Comments
On November 6, 2019, the SEC's Division of Enforcement published its 2019 Annual Report ("Report"). This Report highlighted many of the Division's 2019 actions. Notably, it mentioned the Division's recent actions against fraudulent issuers of cryptocurrency—digital assets designed to work as a mediums of exchange that use cryptography, or ...
SEC Proposes Modernized Derivatives Regulations
On November 25, 2019, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") voted to propose a new rule designed to improve the regulation of derivative securities used by investment companies, including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds ("ETFs"). In light of the growing trend in the investment fund industry of using derivatives ...
Calumet Fined $250,000 for Hasty Earnings Release
On November 25, 2019, Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. ("Calumet") agreed to pay the SEC a $250,000 fine stemming from material misstatements the Company made regarding its 2017 financial results. In September 2017, Calumet disclosed that its internal control over financial reporting ("ICFR") was ineffective due to the implementation ...
$26 Million Dollar Settlement to California McDonald’s Employees for Wage Theft
On November 22, 2019, McDonald's agreed to pay $26 million to a class of California employees for various wage violations. The settlement provides relief to approximately 38,000 current and former McDonald's employees that worked at California restaurants at any time since 2009. Employees claim McDonald's violated California labor law by, ...
Why does false advertising occur? Can I sue a company because of something on the label of the product or an advertisement?
See informative video here: https://www.faruqilaw.com/uploads/blog/1575416516-why-does-false-advertising-occur-can-i-sue-a-company-because-of-something-on-the-label-of-the-product-or-an-advertisement.mp4 Oftentimes, when people think of false advertising, they imagine television ads or representations made by a car salesman. While advertisements ...
Why are so many law firms involved in the case?
See informative video here: https://www.faruqilaw.com/uploads/blog/1575415626-why-are-so-many-law-firms-involved-in-the-case.mp4 There are two primary reasons that many law firms are involved in the initial stages of a securities class action lawsuit. First, multiple cases are often filed against the same company, stemming from the same fraudulent ...
What kind of information can be stolen in a data breach?
See informative video here: https://www.faruqilaw.com/uploads/blog/1575415264-what-kind-of-information-can-be-stolen-in-a-data-breach.mp4 Almost every piece of personal information that you provide to a company, whether online or in person, can be stolen. This oftentimes includes credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, ...