The pace of settlements in class-action securities settlements crept up last year and the actual payouts of those deals ballooned 35 percent, a probable harbinger of more litigation to come.
2009 saw a total of 103 court-approved settlements, up slightly from 97 in 2008, according to an annual report published by Cornerstone Research and the Securities Class Action Clearinghouse at Stanford University. Clearinghouse Director Joseph Grundfest said the increase is of little surprise, since securities fraud litigation typically settles three to five years after the first complaint is filed. That means last year’s lawsuits were first filed around 2005, a ...