High court denies review of Robbins Geller appellate success in securities case

The U.S. Supreme Court denied review of two securities cases in which Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP had won favorable appellate rulings for their clients, two pension funds.

"Defendants' efforts to evade liability by using procedural delays have now been rejected," Robbins Geller partner Darren J. Robbins wrote in a statement issued Tuesday. "We look forward to presenting these cases to a jury."

The high court, which upheld the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in its ruling Monday, had been asked to examine two questions. One was whether securities fraud claims should be limited to cases where defendants publicly correct their earlier false statements or admit they are false, Mineworkers' Pension Scheme v. First Solar Inc. , 881 F.3d 750 (9th Cir. 2018). The second question was whether the Securities Exchange Act applies, without exception, whenever a claim is based on a domestic transaction. Stoyas v. Toshiba Corporation, 896 F.3d 933, 950 (9th Cir. 2018).

In the second case, respondents were bolstered by an amicus brief filed at the request of the court by the U.S. solicitor general, who advanced several of the same arguments as attorneys from Robbins Geller. The solicitor general asserted the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals correctly applied case law from Morrison v. National Australia Bank, Ltd., 561 U.S. 247 (2010). In that decision, the court held the Exchange Act only applies to transactions in securities listed on domestic exchanges and "domestic transactions" in other securities.

-- Paula Lehman-Ewing