January 19, 2022 - David M. Eskew

On January 11, 2022, AEL partner Ken Abell and associate Scott Glicksman secured a Second Circuit appellate victory for its client, the former CFO of a publicly-traded company, against a class action securities fraud suit against the company and its former officers and directors. At oral argument, the AEL team had argued that an unrelated guilty plea for insider trading (in which AEL also represented the client) did not provide a basis for plaintiffs to assert a viable securities fraud claim in this matter and the dismissal of the case by the district judge should be upheld. The three-judge panel issued a summary order affirming the district court’s dismissal of the action, holding, in part, that our client’s alleged insider trading did not cure the complaint’s pleading deficiencies, and any amendment of the complaint to that effect would be futile. You can read more about the appellate argument here.