The United States Supreme Court’s decision in Dura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Broudo, 125 S. Ct. 1627 (2005), left many unanswered questions about securities fraud cases under Rule 10b-5: Must there be a corrective disclosure and a consequent decline in the stock’s price?

Few issues in bankruptcy law vary as widely across the circuits as does the issue of deepening insolvency and its status as a separate tort.

The Court has had to clarify the meaning of "legal advice" following the extensive analysis of legal advice privilege by the Court of Appeal earlier this year.

Insolvency Notes Newsletter from White and Case LLP

They were at the pinnacle of success and now find themselves knocking at the jailhouse doors. They reached the top in large part by their force of personality, their controlling nature, their intellect (some might say brilliance), and their ability to sell themselves and their ideas. But the traits that served them so well in the boardroom turned out to be liabilities in the courtroom.

The Supreme Courts Tellabs decision has been widely seen as making it more difficult for private securities fraud plaintiffs to satisfy the Private Securities Litigation Reform Acts (PSLRA) requirement of pleading a "strong inference" of scienter, by holding that such plaintiffs "must plead facts rendering an inference of scienter at least as likely as any plausible opposing inference."

The Court of Appeal has considered a number of issues arising from an international sale of goods transaction, including the autonomy of a demand repayment guarantee.

Chancellor Leo E. Strine, Jr., one of the leading judges in the country in the corporate governance area, has become an advocate for judicial restraint and traditional, principle-based review of director conduct by the Delaware courts.

On January 15, 2008, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Stoneridge Investment Partners, LLC v. Scientific- Atlanta, Inc., No. 06-43, --- S.Ct. ----, 2008 WL 123801 (Jan. 15, 2008), a case that was closely monitored by the securities litigation bar because of the impact it would have on the exposure of customers, suppliers and other secondary actors to liability in private federal securities fraud litigation.

This issue includes: Equitable Subordination of ESOP Stock Redemption Reversed, Court Could Oversee Sale of Ships Not Within Its Jurisdiction, Sixty-Day Notice Provision Doesn’t Apply to Encoding Errors, Reclaiming Seller Has Priority Over an Unperfected Secured Creditor, La. District Court Upholds GECC Purchase of Debtor’s Ship, Judge Rejects the Release of Debtor’s Principals From Personal Liability, Lender Bound by Arbitration Agreement Not Contained in Loan Agreement, Secured Creditor Not Li

Despite the fact that securities fraud lawsuits involving auditors are said to be relatively few in number as a percentage of total new filings and new filings are below the historical average, auditors often come to be added as defendants, particularly in high-profile cases.

This is an update on the past year's developments in government enforcement in the area of business crimes.

Despite its size and complex dual federal and state legal system, the United States is a favourable forum for international arbitration.