Class Actions Brief Blog

Earlier this year, we reported that Multiple Studies Show Increase in Securities Class Actions. Cornerstone Research, one of the groups covered in our earlier report, recently issued its 2016 Midyear Assessment. This new analysis, which covers cases filed in January through June of this year, is consistent with several of the trends we reported previously, including the increasing number of securities class actions, the rise in the number of cases against smaller companies, and the increase in the number of Fourth Circuit cases.

Of particular interest is the significant increase in the number of merger & acquisition cases filed in federal courts. In the first half of 2016, there were 24 filings involving M&A transactions – a 167% increase from the second half of 2015. Given the size of this increase, it seems likely that this is related to significant changes in Delaware’s handling of merger objection litigation following the Trulia decision, and we will continue to monitor how this shift impacts merger litigation in federal courts in the Carolinas and the North Carolina Business Court.