Seventh Circuit Sustains Adequacy of Tellabs Complaint on Remand from U.S. Supreme Court

NEW YORK, Jan. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The most important United States Supreme Court decision in the field of securities litigation in 2007 received a significant postscript today when the appellate court to which the case was remanded determined that the securities fraud complaint at issue was sufficient to allow full litigation to proceed against the defendants.

In Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd., 127 S.Ct. 2499 (2007), the Supreme Court announced a uniform standard for evaluating the sufficiency of a complaint under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and sent the case back to the Seventh Circuit to rule on the sufficiency of the complaint under the new standard.

In the decision issued today, the Seventh Circuit again reviewed the complaint, and concluded that "the plaintiffs have succeeded, with regard to the statements identified in our previous opinion as having been adequately alleged to be false and material, in pleading scienter in conformity with the requirements of the PSLRA. We therefore adhere to our decision to reverse the judgment of the district court dismissing the suit." The unanimous decision was written by Judge Richard A. Posner.

New York law firm Milberg Weiss LLP represented the court-appointed lead plaintiff investor in the class action, Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd. Richard Weiss, the firm partner handling the case, commented: "We view this decision as a hopeful sign that federal courts will conduct fair reviews of securities fraud complaints and will, despite the anti-class action and anti-investor rhetoric frequently heard from big business, allow meritorious cases to proceed. We are particularly pleased with this decision because of the high level of interest this case has received from all sides, including the major American and European pension funds and legal and public policy organizations who joined us in seeking to protect investor rights in this case."

Milberg Weiss LLP is one of the nation's leading defenders of plaintiffs' interests in class and complex litigations. Headquartered in New York, the firm was founded in 1965 by Lawrence Milberg and Melvyn I. Weiss who pioneered the use of the federal court class action rule to prosecute securities fraud and shareholder rights cases. Today, the firm is proud of its litigation benchmarks resulting in significant recoveries in securities litigation, shareholder corporate governance litigation, antitrust and consumer protection litigation and healthcare, insurance, mass tort, labor and human rights work. The firm has also contribute countless hours to the families of victims of the Holocaust and the 9/11 tragedy.