News & Events

On January 13, 2010, Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum of the Southern District of New York dismissed a securities fraud complaint against firm clients Goldman, Sachs & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Banc of America Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated and several former officers of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Company ("Freddie Mac").  The Court found that the 269-page Complaint, which alleged Section 10(b) claims against the underwriters of Freddie Mac Series Z Preferred Stock and the individual defendants, as well as a Section 20(a) claim against the individuals, did not comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8's requirement that a pleading stating a claim for relief must contain a "short and plain statement of the claim."  Judge Cedarbaum was critical of the increase in the length of securities class action complaints and strongly discouraged the practice.  The Court gave plaintiffs until March 15, 2010 to re-plead a "genuine actionable grievance in a short concise statement."

The STB team consists of Michael J. Chepiga, George Wang, Craig Waldman, Jodie Sopher Pimentel, Shannon Torres and Shruti Raju, with valuable assistance from paralegal Farrah Faverey.