Litigation

Apollo Group verdict reinstated

By Ted Frank

The Ninth Circuit reverses a district court decision throwing out a $277.5 million jury verdict. So, let's get this straight: the Ninth Circuit holds that it's simultaneously reasonable for the jury to hold that the securities market didn't adequately process earlier disclosures made by Apollo that it had regulatory issues while at the same time the law was assuming an efficient market on plaintiffs' loss causation theory to preserve class certification. Can't have it both ways: either there's an efficient market permitting loss-causation theories justifying class certification and additional disclosures on the same subject weren't corrective, or there isn't an efficient market and a fraud-on-the-market theory doesn't fly for purposes of class certification. Judge Kozinski, you should know better. One hopes an en banc court or the Supreme Court reverses this travesty. [In re Apollo Group (unpublished), reversing D. Ariz. opinion via D&O Diary; Arizona Republic]

Full post as published by Point of Law on July 02, 2010 (boomark / email).