|
 |
| 2001 News and Press Releases |
|
|
HEADLINE ARCHIVED:
Flood Of Lawsuits Puts Underwriters In Cross Hairs
By: Jonathan D. Glater
The New York Times. December 2, 2001
_________________________________________________________________________
Excerpt: FOR Christopher Lovell, a New York lawyer, the class-action lawsuit boom of 2001 began with an after-hours phone call in January from Howard Sirota, another lawyer. Mr. Sirota had evidence suggesting that investment banks had engaged in questionable practices taking companies public during the Internet stock frenzy of the 1990's -- like secretly agreeing to pump up the prices of new shares. Mr. Sirota was sure that these activities had violated securities laws, but he wanted to argue that they had also violated antitrust laws. Mr. Lovell, who specializes in antitrust and securities law, had the expertise that Mr. Sirota needed. Their law firms soon filed the first of several antitrust suits against stock issuers and investment banks and joined an army of plaintiffs' lawyers filing securities class-action suits. "The implications were staggering," because of the huge number of public offerings underwritten by major investment banks, Mr. Lovell said, recalling the conversations with Mr. Sirota. "I did think that it could be big. I didn't think it could be this big." In the legal arena known as class-action litigation -- suits filed by lawyers on behalf of groups of people, or classes, seeking huge damage awards or settlements -- the demise of so many public offerings over the last few years is a potential gold mine.
|
|
|
