There Are Plaintiffs and ... There Are Plaintiffs: An Empirical Analysis of Securities Class Action Settlements

Reform of the securities class action is once again the subject of national debate. The impetus for this debate is the reports of three different groups-the Committee on Capital Market Regulation,' the Commission on the Regulation of U.S. Capital Markets in the 21st Century, and McKinsey & Company.3 Each of the reports focuses on a single theme: how the contemporary regulatory culture places U.S. capital markets at a competitive disadvantage to foreign markets. While the reports target multiple regulatory forces in their calls for reform, each report singles out securities class actions as one of the prime villains that place U.S. capital markets at a competitive disadvantage. The reports' recommendations range from insignificant changes to drastic curtailments of private class actions. Surprisingly, these current-day cries echo calls for reform heeded by Congress in the not-too-distant past.