July 25, 2008

Yesterday, at a New York City forum sponsored by the Manhattan Institute (as is this website), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform released its new Securities Class Action Litigation Report (PDF). Per its press release, ILR president Lisa Rickard noted

that the current system of lawsuits essentially entails one group of innocent investors suing another group of innocent investors. She pointed out that aggrieved investors often receive only pennies on the dollar, while huge sums of money are chewed up in legal costs.

The study estimates that defendants have paid approximately $51.8 billion in settlements over the past decade, and notes that filings jumped sharply, by 58 percent, from 2006 to 2007. Brian Baxter of American Lawyer's AmLaw Daily covered yesterday's event; see also the (Chamber-backed) Legal NewsLine. More: see July 30.