The chance to help Washington Legal Foundation with a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief in the Omnicare case was an honor. Statements of opinion are ubiquitous in corporate communications on issues as diverse as asset valuations, strength of current performance, risk assessments, product quality, loss reserves, and progress toward corporate goals. Many of these opinions are crucial to investors, providing them with unique information and insight.
Yet, for the first 20 years of my securities litigation career, the law governing evaluation of opinions was a tangle. Omnicare gave me the opportunity to help improve the law in this important area, and our amicus brief shaped the Court’s standard for what makes an opinion false or misleading – a standard the Court said is “no small task” for a plaintiff to meet.
In the five years since the decision, Omnicare has helped defendants win more cases. But we in the defense bar can use Omnicare better, as my colleagues and I explain in this WLF Legal Backgrounder: