For those of us who spend a lot of time looking at securities class action lawsuits, the cases often have a familiar pattern. Unfortunately, the familiarity may dull sensitivity to the allegations or even to the process itself. So it was interesting to read a layman’s reaction to a recently filed lawsuit, if for no other reason than it provided a look at the lawsuit and the process with a fresh set of eyes.

The lawsuit in question was filed in the Northern District of California on March 9, 2010 against Medivation and certain of its directors and offices. As is so often is the case in these kinds of lawsuits, Medivation is a life sciences company whose developmental stage product failed to meet certain clinical trial goals. Specifically, and as reflected in the plaintiffs’ lawyers March 9 press release (here), its product did not meet primary and secondary goals in a Phase 3 clinical trial for patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. When the company announced this news, its stock price declined and the lawsuit followed. A copy of the complaint can be found here.

This lawsuit will work its way through the system. The lawyers involved, all of whom undoubtedly are (or when they are retained to defend

It has now been over three years since the first subprime-related securities class action lawsuit was filed in February 2007, yet many of the cases filed in the ensuing litigation wave are still only in their earliest stages. While the vast majority of these cases are still unfolding, there have been some important recent developments, suggesting that the evolving litigation wave has passed some significant milestones. With that possibility in mind, it seems appropriate to check in for a status report on the subprime and credit crisis-related litigation wave.

In the latest issue of InSights (here), I take a look at the developments to date as the subprime and credit crisis-related cases have worked their way through the system, including trends in motion to dismiss rulings and settlements, as well as with respect to issues such as gatekeeper liability and defense expense costs.

Both the number of restatements and the number of companies reporting restatements are declining according to a new study. The number of restatements has been declining for three years now, and the number has declined materially since the figures peaked in 2006, both because of better controls and changing standards.

The study, by Audit Analytics, is not yet available online, but it has been widely reviewed, including in a March 4, 2010 CFO.com article (here) and a March 1, 2010 article by Matt Kelly of Compliance Week (here).

As reflected in this article, the study shows that there were just 630 companies reporting 674 accounting restatements in 2009. There were 24% fewer restatements in 2009 compared to the prior year, when there were 923. The 2009 figures represent the lowest number of restatements since 2001 (when accounting scandals dominated the headlines).