August 1, 2006

Some federal trial judges have experimented with imposing competitive-bidding procedures on law firms seeking lead-counsel status in securities class actions; the Ninth and Third Circuits, however, have rebuffed such initiatives. As Jonathan noted last month, however, a bill in Congress would revive the practice, and a House panel recently heard testimony from Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, known as a pioneer of the auction format, as well as critics of the bill, H.R. 5491. The National Law Journal's coverage of the hearing is here.