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through this page to learn about the Stanford Digital Law Project
and the Securities Class Clearinghouse About the Stanford Securities Class Clearinghouse By Joseph A. Grundfest Five distinct reasons to focus on Securities Fraud Class Action Litigation Securities Class Action Clearinghouse Database: Definition of the SCAC Sample Data |
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Stanford. March 18, 2002 The Stanford Clearinghouse. By Joseph A. Grundfest The Stanford Clearinghouse offers investors, policymakers, scholars, judges, lawyers and the media a powerful research tool that provides a detailed look into the workings of federal securities fraud class action litigation. By digitizing and linking the full text of complaints, motions, dockets, judicial opinions, and other major class action filings, together with summaries and analyses of those lawsuits into a single website with its own full-text search engine, the Stanford Clearinghouse offers information that is substantially more detailed and timely than can be found on other services, which generally limit their databases to judicial decisions. By accessing this site, each user can form his or her own opinion as to whether litigation is with or without merit, whether too few or too many companies are being sued, and whether recoveries are too small or too large. In 1914, Justice Louis D. Brandeis observed, "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants, electric light the most efficient policeman." [Louis D. Brandeis, Other People's Money, ch.5 (1914)] The Internet's ability to disseminate information and to harness the forces of disclosure in the public's interest are, we believe, at least as powerful as Brandeis's "electric light" and we hope that this website makes a contribution in this direction. Institutional investors with more than $1.5 trillion in assets under management have already registered with the Stanford Clearinghouse to receive automatic notices of litigation developments that may affect investments in their portfolios. All members of the public are invited to join these major institutional investors and to register to receive prompt notification of litigation developments. (Note: you will need a valid e-mail address so that we can communicate with you.) This Internet site would not be possible without the cooperation of the judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California who have approved Local Rule 23-2. Rule 23-2 is the first local rule of court that requires Internet posting of major securities fraud class action litigation filings. The cooperation of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in various aspects of this project is also extremely helpful. This project is made possible only through the vision and generosity of our sponsors: Cornerstone Research now provides major ongoing support, together with the Nasdaq Stock Market. George Roberts provided the "seed capital" for this venture, and MarketSpan provides their services for background research. Please browse through the additional links described above to learn more about this site and our plans for the future. We recognize that this is an experimental effort, and we are happy to receive any suggestions about how we might improve the quality of our service. We know that we are still learning about how the Internet can help improve the legal process and hope that you will share your insights with us. Back to Top_________________________________________________________________________ Stanford. September 21, 2000 Five distinct reasons to focus on Securities Fraud Class Action Litigation We selected class action securities fraud litigation as the first subject area for our new Internet efforts for five distinct reasons:
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The defendant may or may not be the issuer of the plaintiff's securities. They may be underwriters, investment banks, broker firms, mutual funds, etc. For example, in the "Analyst" type cases the lawsuits generally do not allege that the issuers are engaged in any unlawful activity. Note, the cases where the issuer is not named as a defendant does not represent the large majority of lawsuits in the database. Furthermore, often in a securities class action issuers, underwriters, investment banks, broker firms, mutual funds, or a combination of these, will be sued in multiple filings, filed by different named plaintiffs represented by different plaintiffs' law firms. While these filings often contain substantially similar allegations, there may be variations between the allegations or defendants in separate complaints. In
addition, a record (case) in our database generally describes only
one complaint of all the filings against the same defendant. As
a general rule, we select the first complaint we have identified.
If multiple complaints are filed at one time, we choose the complaint
that appeared to contain the most detailed allegations. However,
if we locate the amended and/or consolidated complaint, we update
the case summary and other information as needed.
_________________________________________________________________________ The Stanford Clearinghouse A useful tool for Investors
_________________________________________________________________________ The Stanford Clearinghouse A useful tool for Judges
_________________________________________________________________________ The Stanford Clearinghouse A useful tool for Lawyers
_________________________________________________________________________ The Stanford Clearinghouse A useful tool for the Media
_____________________________________________________________________will help policy makers answer basic q uestions about the effects of the 1995 Reform Act, and thereby help determine whether the statute is achieving its intended purpose or should be modified. For example, the Website will help answer basic questions such as:
The Stanford Clearinghouse A useful tool for Scholars
_________________________________________________________________________ The Stanford Clearinghouse A useful tool for Teachers
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1.- I am unable to print and/or download PDF court documents. What is happening? A: The problem with certain PDF documents on our Website, unfortunately, comes directly from the law firms providing us with the complaints. Some of these PDF documents are encrypted. When a PDF document is encrypted you are unable to do anything but what the author allows the user to do. One of the most common encryptions is not allowing the user to print the document. We apologize since we are unable to do anything about those specially encrypted documents.
2.- What cases do the Clearinghouse cover? A: A securities class action is a case brought pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 on behalf of a group of persons who purchased
the securities of a particular company during a specified period of time
(the class period). The complaint generally contains allegations
that the company and/or certain of its officers and directors violated
one or more of the federal or state securities laws. A suit is filed
as a class action because the members of the class are so numerous that
joinder of all members is impracticable. For a case to proceed as
a class action, there should be a well-defined commonality of interest
in the questions of law and fact involved in the case. Further, the
plaintiffs must establish that a class action is superior to other available
methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy and
that the prosecution of separate actions by individual class members would
create a risk of inconsistent and varying adjudications.
Back to Top A: The box score is updated each business day.
The case list is updated each business day a securities class action is
filed in federal court.
Back to Top A: We generally send out e-mail notification once a week concerning
all cases which have been filed since the previous notice.
Back to Top Northern District of California
A: For cases filed in the Northern District of California, the
attorneys who file a complaint are required to submit the complaint within
three days to a Designated Internet Site (such as this site). A complaint
filed in the Northern District of California is posted on the site within
two business days. To date, complaints filed in the Northern District
by the law firm of Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach have been posted
on that firm's Designated Internet Site at: http://www.securities.milberg.com.
Other Districts and State Courts
For cases filed in other districts and State Courts, we attempt to
obtain a copy of the complaint and post it on the site as soon as possible. If we are able to
obtain an electronic copy of a complaint, we are able to process it and post it on the site
quickly. However, if we obtain only a paper copy of a complaint, it takes longer because we need
to process the document to make it Internet-ready. Further, some complaints are
difficult to obtain in any form.
Back to Top A: We are in the process of adding materials to our database in the area of state court
securities class actions and plan to expand our coverage of such actions. We do not have any
current plans to expand the site to cover different types (i.e. non-securities) of class
actions or other types of litigation.
Back to Top A: While most documents that are posted on the site are able to be downloaded and printed for free, we do not have the resources to mail or fax paper copies of documents to individuals. Notice the some documents posted in the site are encrypted. When a file (document) is encrypted you are unable to do anything but what the author of that document allows you to do. For this reason, you are in most cases able to view the document only. (Please read: I am unable to print and/or download PDF court documents. What is happening?)
Back to Top A: No. While we will answer general questions about the Clearinghouse
itself, we are not able to answer questions which require giving legal
advice.
Back to Top A: No. We do not modify the text of documents before posting
them to the site. An error in the original document will also appear
on the posted document with a "[sic]" symbol behind it. We do sometimes
modify the spacing or layout of a document.
Back to Top A: A securities class action is a case brought pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23
on behalf of a group of persons who purchased the securities of a particular company during a specified
period of time (the class period). The complaint generally contains allegations
that the company and/or certain of its officers and directors violated one or more of the federal or
state securities laws. A suit is filed as a class action because the members of the class are so
numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable. For a case to proceed as
a class action, there should be a well-defined commonality of interest in the questions of law and fact
involved in the case. Further, the plaintiffs must establish that a class action is superior to
other available methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy and that the
prosecution of separate actions by individual class members would create a risk of inconsistent and
varying adjudications.
Back to Top A: The Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934 are the main federal laws which prohibit such conduct.
The text of these statutes is available at the website for the Center for
Corporate Law run by the University of Cincinnati College of Law.
The URL is: http://www.law.uc.edu/CCL/sldtoc.html.
In addition, the states have securities laws, known as blue sky laws, which
are also designed to protect individual investors.
Back to Top A: A section of the Clearinghouse is devoted to securities-related
reports, articles, and written testimony. The URL is: http://securities.stanford.edu/research.html.
The following report posted on the Clearinghouse is useful for answering
a variety of questions: Securities Litigation Reform: The First Year's
Experience A Statistical and Legal Analysis of Class Action Securities
Fraud Litigation Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995 by Joseph A. Grundfest and Michael A. Perino.
Back to Top Press inquiries or for information about the content or functionality of this site, please contact scac@law.stanford.edu.
IMPORTANT: We do try to provide assistance when we can.
We cannot, however, give legal advice.
Back to Top |
Back to Home page There are several ways to send us documents to be posted:
E-mail attachment:
Several e-mail software packages enable
you to attach a computer file to an e-mail message. If you have
such software, you can attach your file to an e-mail addressed to
Securities Class Action Clearinghouse at:
Diskette or CD
Send a diskette or CD by any means reasonably calculated to result in
delivery by the third day following the court filing to:
Securities
Class Action Clearinghouse Please use a cardboard mailer or other means to protect the diskette
from physical damage during transport.
We also accept paper copies of documents as well. However, we favor
and appreciate obtaining an electronic file of the document.
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