http://www.law360.com/ Latest articles for organization: Abbey Spanier Copyright 2009 Portfolio Media, Inc. en-US http://www.law360.com/images/headings/logo.gif http://www.law360.com/ http://www.law360.com/articles/135439 The federal judge overseeing a securities class action against Vivendi SA has rejected the plaintiffs’ bid to force the French entertainment giant to withdraw a suit it filed in Paris seeking to bar two class representatives from participating in the U.S. case, instead taking steps to obviate any need for the courts to infringe on each other’s jurisdictions. http://www.law360.com/articles/135439 http://www.law360.com/articles/134717 Chafing at consolidation, New York Law School and other plaintiffs suing hedge fund manager J. Ezra Merkin for handing billions of dollars over to Bernard L. Madoff are struggling to convince the court to distinguish among the allegedly mismanaged funds and appoint separate counsel accordingly. http://www.law360.com/articles/134717 http://www.law360.com/articles/134039 Reversing a lower court ruling, the Court of Appeals of Maryland has determined that the state's corporation laws should not block direct shareholder actions against company directors for breach of fiduciary duties in the cashout merger context. http://www.law360.com/articles/134039 http://www.law360.com/articles/129923 An investigative magistrate judge in Paris has decided to press criminal charges against former Vivendi SA CEO Jean-Marie Messier and six others accused of misleading investors and manipulating stock prices, the company said Thursday. http://www.law360.com/articles/129923 http://www.law360.com/articles/128299 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and hourly employees in its Iowa stores have agreed to an $11 million settlement, ending eight years of litigation in one of many wage violation suits brought against the retailer in recent years. http://www.law360.com/articles/128299 http://www.law360.com/articles/128108 The plaintiffs in a securities class action against Vivendi Universal S.A. are trying to put a stop to a lawsuit the French entertainment giant recently brought in Paris aiming to force two class members to drop out of the long-standing litigation by threatening them with severe financial penalties. http://www.law360.com/articles/128108 http://www.law360.com/articles/126570 Deeming two proposed lead plaintiffs ill-suited for the task, a federal judge has rejected a request for class status for former shareholders of Allou Healthcare Inc. in a suit accusing auditors KPMG LLP and Arthur Andersen LLP of failing to unearth accounting fraud at the defunct pharmacy products provider. http://www.law360.com/articles/126570 http://www.law360.com/articles/124873 Three retirement funds, represented by Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP, have asked to lead a proposed shareholder class action accusing Canada's largest insurance company, Manulife Financial Corp., and its executives of neglecting to hedge investments and disclose risks. http://www.law360.com/articles/124873 http://www.law360.com/articles/110825 A putative investor class has accused Canada's largest life insurance company, Manulife Financial Corp., and its executive officers of neglecting to hedge investments and disclose risks, spurring a precipitous drop in the value of its shares when its alleged disclosure failures came to light. http://www.law360.com/articles/110825 http://www.law360.com/articles/108982 A federal judge has replaced the lead plaintiff in securities litigation against Imax Corp., concluding that another shareholder group is more suitable for the role because it suffered a direct loss from the movie pioneer's alleged fraud. http://www.law360.com/articles/108982 http://www.law360.com/articles/107995 In dismissing the case on summary judgment, a federal judge has ruled that shareholders suing medical device maker St. Jude Medical Inc. for a steep 2006 stock loss cannot “change horses in midstream” by altering their theory of how the losses occurred. http://www.law360.com/articles/107995 http://www.law360.com/articles/106154 Ernst & Young LLP has asked a judge to rethink his decision in an ongoing securities case to force the company to turn over documents related to audits it performed for the French entertainment firm Vivendi Universal SA. http://www.law360.com/articles/106154 http://www.law360.com/articles/103844 As part of the ongoing securities litigation against Vivendi, a judge has ordered Ernst & Young LLP to compel several documents relating to audits it performed for the French entertainment firm, despite its objections that doing so would violate French professional secrecy statutes. http://www.law360.com/articles/103844 http://www.law360.com/articles/100845 One group of plaintiffs in five antitrust suits accusing Becton Dickinson & Co. Inc. of monopolizing the market for hypodermic needles is seeking to block a $45 million settlement the company reached with another group of plaintiffs, alleging that a court has yet to determine who the direct purchaser plaintiffs are in the case. http://www.law360.com/articles/100845 http://www.law360.com/articles/96571 After determining that the plaintiff shareholders failed to properly serve the executive with their suits, a judge has dismissed more than 30 cases against former Vivendi Universal SA Chief Financial Officer Guillaume Hannezo in connection with alleged securities and financial fraud by the company. http://www.law360.com/articles/96571 http://www.law360.com/articles/94800 A federal judge overseeing securities litigation against Vivendi SA has rejected Vivendi’s bid for partial reconsideration of a decision to certify a class that included French shareholders, despite Vivendi’s argument that French courts wouldn’t give preclusive effect to a judgment in an opt-out class action. http://www.law360.com/articles/94800 http://www.law360.com/articles/92289 A federal judge has dismissed without prejudice the claims brought by 33 individual shareholders in a long-standing securities fraud class action against two former executives of Vivendi Universal SA, saying they failed to serve one of the defendants on time. http://www.law360.com/articles/92289 http://www.law360.com/articles/91901 A federal judge has shot down bids for partial summary judgment by two former executives of Vivendi Universal SA in the long-standing securities fraud class action alleging that they and their former employer made false and misleading statements that caused the company's securities to trade at artificially inflated prices. http://www.law360.com/articles/91901 http://www.law360.com/articles/91654 A federal judge has denied a bid for class certification by a group of Imax Corp. investors in securities litigation against the movie pioneer so that she can consider a bid for lead plaintiff status by a rival shareholder group. http://www.law360.com/articles/91654 http://www.law360.com/articles/82687 The chairman of the struggling financial arm of General Motors Corp. has resigned from its board of directors, as he faces a lawsuit taking him to task for investing $1.8 billion of his clients' money in Bernard L. Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme. http://www.law360.com/articles/82687