Skip Links

Network World

Brad Reese

U.S. Supreme Court ruling stunning victory for Cisco and investors worldwide

By Brad Reese on Wed, 01/16/08 - 6:07pm.

Supreme Court of the United States

Cisco's Scientific-Atlanta unit has won what has been described in the Wall Street Journal as:

"The biggest securities litigation case in a generation."

The U.S. Supreme ruled that product vendors, lenders, accountants and other secondary participants can not be sued for "scheme liability" under the federal securities laws.

Steve Shapiro"The Supreme Court today handed down a major victory for the U.S. economy and investor welfare," said Steve Shapiro of the Chicago based law firm Mayer Brown, who represented Cisco's Scientific-Atlanta in the case.

"The Court understood that the trial lawyers’ theory of scheme liability was simply a scheme to rake in billions of dollars for themselves at the expense of the investors they purported to represent."

The major conclusion of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling is on page 4:

"We conclude the implied right of action does not reach the customer/supplier companies because the investors did not rely upon their statements or representations."

View the entire 33 page U.S. Supreme Court ruling

Of the 9 Justices serving on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Stephen Breyer did not participate in the case because he owns stock in Cisco, the parent company of Scientific-Atlanta.

Many predict that this ruling will also doom the lawsuits being pressed by Enron and HealthSouth investors too!

Contact Brad Reese
http://www.BradReese.Com

About Brad Reese on Cisco

Brad Reese cofounded BradReese.Com Cisco Refurbished, which enables affordable Cisco networks globally by assuring customer satisfaction with guaranteed one year warranties on both Cisco Repair as well as Refurbished Cisco.

Don't be shy, contact Brad Reese online or call him at 646-827-1130.

 

Most Discussed Posts

On The Web
Twitter