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U.S. Supreme Court

Case Status

Docket Number

Term

2014 Term

Oral Argument Date

November 03, 2014

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Questions Presented

Whether, for purposes of a claim under Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. § 77k, a plaintiff may plead that a statement of opinion was “untrue” merely by alleging that the opinion itself was objectively wrong, as the Sixth Circuit has concluded, or must the plaintiff also allege that the statement was subjectively false – requiring allegations that the speaker’s actual opinion was different from the one expressed – as the Second, Third, and Ninth Circuits have held.

Case Updates

U.S. Supreme Court rules on “opinions” in important securities case

March 24, 2015

The U.S. Supreme Court vacated the decision of the Sixth Circuit and remanded the case. The Court held that a statement of opinion is not an untrue statement of fact simply because it ultimately proves incorrect.

U.S. Chamber files amicus brief

June 12, 2014

The Chamber and the Business Roundtable urged the Supreme Court to reverse the decision of the Sixth Circuit arguing that the Sixth Circuit’s decision cannot be squared with the Supreme Court’s Virginia Bankshares decision. The Chamber warned that affirming the Sixth Circuit’s decision would put securities issuers in grave peril of strict liability under Section 11 if their genuinely held opinions and beliefs turned out to be wrong.

The Chamber filed the brief jointly with the Business Roundtable.

George T. Conway III of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz represented the U.S. Chamber as co-counsel to the National Chamber Litigation Center in this case.

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