Scheme Liability, Section 10(b), and Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Scientific Atlanta (1 of 3) Video

October 5, 2007
Speakers:
Introduction:
Prof. Jonathan H. Adler, Director, Center for Business Law and Regulation, Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Dean Reuter, Director of Practice Groups, the Federalist Society
Panel 1:
Moderator: Larry J. Obhof, Associate, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Richard W. Painter, S. Walter Richey Professor in Corporate Law, University of Minnesota Law School
Prof. J. Robert Brown, Jr., University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Barbara Black, Charles Hartsock Professor of Law, University of Cincinnati College of Law
Presented by: the Center for Business Law and Regulation
Cosponsored by: Corporate Law Practice Group of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies

Summary: Supreme Court Preview Symposium
Introduction and Panel 1: Scheme Liability under Section 10(b)

On October 9, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Scientific-Atlanta, arguably the most important securities law case to reach the Court in a decade. In Stoneridge, the Court will consider whether primary liability under Section 10(b) extends to third-parties, such as auditors, attorneys, or vendors, who engage in allegedly fraudulent transactions with a public corporation.

In Central Bank of Denver v. First Interstate Bank of Denver (1994), a divided Supreme Court rejected claims of secondary liability under Section 10(b). Stoneridge calls upon the court to revisit Central Bank and reconsider the limits on liability for third-parties in securities litigation.

This case is of tremendous importance to all those with a corporate law or securities practice, as well as those who work with financial services or retirement and pension funds. Numerous trade associations and thirty states, including Ohio, have already participated in the case as amici, with more to follow.