Levi & Korsinsky Named in the SCAS 50 2017
Levi & Korsinsky, LLP
April 26, 2018
Levi & Korsinsky is proud to once again be named in the ISS Securities Class Action Services (SCAS) Top 50 report for the year 2017, creating millions of dollars in value for our clients nationwide and continuing its long history of obtaining precedent setting decisions. The SCAS 50 lists the top 50 plaintiffs’ law firms ranked by the total dollar value of final securities class action settlements occurring in 2017 in which the law firm served as lead or co-lead counsel.
Per the report: “For calendar 2017, ISS Securities Class Action Services LLC (“SCAS”) recorded 162 approved securities class action settlements within North America. Collectively, 2017 delivered $2.1 billion in settlement funds for distribution, a marked decrease from the $7 billion recovered in 2016 and the lowest yearly total since the early 2000’s. However, new cases filed in 2017 were significantly higher than the previous year. Underscoring the year-over-year ebb and flow in the value of North American class action settlements, a sizeable $3.5 billion in settlement funds has thus far been announced in 2018. In fact, one U.S. settlement announced in early 2018, Petrobras, ranks among the top five securities class action recoveries of all time.
Of the 162 settlements tracked by SCAS in 2017, 113 cases had results with monetary shareholder recoveries. The SCAS Top 50 analysis shows just one plaintiffs’ law firm surpassed the $500 million threshold, while 11 law firms surpassed the $100 million mark. Of the 113 approved settlements, 76 settlements were alleged violations of Rule 10b-5 of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (Employment of Manipulative and Deceptive Practices) and 31 settlements were alleged violations of the Securities Act of 1933 (Civil Liabilities on Account of False Registration Statement). In addition, a total of 35 cases pertain to Initial Public Offering (IPO) and Public Offering actions, while 13 relate to violation of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Finally, Merger and Acquisition (M&A) and Insider Trading (IT) show a total of 12 and four settlements, respectively. To be clear, securities class action cases, and settlements, can have multiple allegations and thus these totals surpass the total number of approved settlements.”