Sep. 13, 2012
Susan S. Muck
See more on Susan S. MuckFenwick & West LLP San Francisco Litigation Specialty: securities
Muck said recent months have been "brutal," with a lot of regulatory and investigative matters on her plate.
She is representing the Immersion Corp., which develops, manufactures and licenses hardware and software technologies and products.
The company and its officers were sued in 2009 after Immersion disclosed that its audit committee was investigating possible errors that resulted in a three-year restatement of its financial statements. In Re Immersion Corporation Securities Litigation, 09-CV-04073-MMC (N.D. Cal.).
On Immersion's behalf, Muck successfully argued that despite multiple attempts, the plaintiff failed to show that the defendants knew the company's accounting statements were fraudulent.
This year, Muck won a motion to dismiss on the grounds that the plaintiff failed to connect the company's restated financials to any securities fraud.
The case is on appeal.
Muck also is representing Diamond Foods Inc., which last year was sued in federal securities actions and federal and state derivative actions. The suit was prompted by an audit committee's investigation into certain of the company's accounting practices. In Re: Diamond Foods Inc. Securities Litigation, 11-CV-05386-WHA (N.D. Cal.).
Muck said that the company anticipates filing a motion to dismiss the securities class action by the end of the month.
"If we are able to deliver an early dismissal, such as we achieved for Immersion, management and the board will be able to put one more difficulty behind them," she said.
The cases require a lot of heavy lifting.
"Companies in the midst of internal investigations or restatements have to navigate very difficult terrain," she said. "Often, they face shareholder litigation in both federal and state courts, parallel SEC investigations and thorny corporate governance issues."
Muck added, "Given those dynamics, representing officers or directors in these kinds of matters can be incredibly challenging but very gratifying."
- PAT BRODERICK
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