Martinek Paul J.

In one of the first whistleblower suits under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to reach court, a federal judge in New York has raised some eyebrows by allowing the plaintiff to proceed to trial—and striking some potentially ominous tones for corporate defendants. Whistleblower lawsuits are still largely an unexplored part of Sarbanes-Oxley. The law clearly allows protections […]

The ghost of insider trading investigations may be haunting the corporate landscape again these days, but judicious use of a “Rule 10b5-1 plan” to sell stock can still provide solid protection for executives who want to avoid the specter of a visit from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The chief of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, […]

A Florida appellate court has thrown out a jury award of nearly $1.6 billion—including $850 million in punitive damages—to billionaire Ronald Perelman in his lawsuit blaming investment bank Morgan Stanley for financial losses he incurred after receiving stock that later proved worthless in the sale of a camping-equipment company. The trial judge had earlier whacked […]

The liability of so-called “secondary actors”—the investment banks, vendors, and others who might help a company commit securities fraud—is taking center stage in the courtroom these days. Though Compliance Week has covered this issue extensively over the past few years (see box below, right), the topic has again risen to the forefront in recent weeks, […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission raised a few eyebrows recently when it filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to adopt an extremely tough standard that plaintiffs would have to meet when they try to sue public companies for fraud. Although some lawyers defend the SEC’s decision to file the brief, others question […]

The Delaware Chancery Court issued two rulings earlier this month that suggest the nation’s most influential tribunal on corporate law is going to be tough on companies embroiled in litigation over stock option backdating. The two cases, one against chip manufacturer Maxim Integrated Products and the other involving Tyson Foods, rejected the argument that companies […]

A proposed new rule of evidence for federal courts that was intended to limit disclosure of privileged corporate information may be more of a mixed bag than originally anticipated. Rule 502 would for the first time expressly provide that information disclosed to a government agency does not lose its privileged nature and could not be […]

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case later this spring that should clear up the confusion that has developed over what securities-fraud plaintiffs must show to satisfy the heightened pleading standard established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. McGuinness Appellate courts around the country currently use at least four […]