News & Events

A team of Simpson Thacher litigators earned a “Shout-Out” from The Am Law Litigation Daily for defeating a class certification bid in a federal securities action against clients, Best Buy and certain executives. The team, which includes Joe McLaughlin, George Wang, Daniel Stujenske and Elizabeth Wilkerson, was recognized in the June 26, 2017 issue of the publication. Simpson Thacher previously obtained an Eighth Circuit reversal of the certification of a class, after being engaged following the district court’s decision granting class certification. The Eighth Circuit decision was the first circuit court to address the standards under which defendants can offer evidence of a lack of price impact to rebut the fraud-on-the-market presumption of reliance, under the Supreme Court’s Halliburton II decision. The Eighth Circuit adopted Defendants’ arguments that they successfully rebutted the presumption of reliance with evidence that Best Buy’s stock price did not move when the alleged misstatements were made during a conference call. It further held that once the presumption was rebutted, Plaintiffs failed to meet their burden of proving price impact. On remand, plaintiffs sought to file a renewed motion for class certification, arguing that they should have the opportunity to present additional evidence of price impact. Defendants responded that the Eighth Circuit decision conclusively determined that no class may be certified in the case and that the district court could not revisit the class issue. The district court agreed and denied plaintiffs’ application, holding that the case may not proceed as a class action. To read the article, please click here (subscription required).

In addition, Joe McLaughlin was quoted in a June 23, 2017 Law360 article, “Best Buy Investors Denied 2nd Shot At Class Certification,” regarding the victory. In the article, Joe told the publication that his team is “gratified by the district court’s ruling and looks forward to a successful resolution of the [case's] individual claims.” To read the Law360 article, please click here (subscription required).