IN RE: VOLKSWAGEN “CLEAN DIESEL” MARKETING (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

IN RE: VOLKSWAGEN “CLEAN DIESEL” MARKETING, SALES PRACTICES, AND PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION, Puerto Rico Government Employees and Judiciary Retirement Systems Administration, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Volkswagen AG; Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.; Volkswagen Group of America Finance LLC; Michael Horn; Martin Winterkorn, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 20-15564

Decided: September 23, 2021

Before: J. CLIFFORD WALLACE and MILAN D. SMITH, JR., Circuit Judges, and JANE A. RESTANI,* Judge.

Robert J. Giuffra Jr. (argued), Sharon L. Nelles, Suhana S. Han, William H. Wagener, and Elizabeth N. Olsen, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, New York, New York; David H. Dickieson, Schertler & Onorato LLP, Washington, D.C.; Gregory P. Joseph, Joseph Hage Aaronson LLC, New York, New York; for Defendants-Appellants. Ian D. Berg (argued) and Takeo A. Kellar, Abraham Fruchter & Twersky LLP, San Diego, California; Mitchell M.Z. Twersky and Atara Hirsch, Abraham Fruchter & Twersky LLP, New York, New York; for Plaintiff-Appellee. Douglas Wilens, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP, Boca Raton, Florida; Thomas C. Michaud, Vanoverbeke Michaud & Timmony P.C., Detroit, Michigan; for Amicus Curiae Michigan Association of Public Employees Retirement Systems. Gideon A. Schor, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC, New York, New York; Joseph A. Grundfest, The William A. Franke Professor of Law and Business, Stanford Law School, Stanford, California; for Amici Curiae Law Professors and Former SEC Officials. Deanne E. Maynard and Adam L. Sorensen, Morrison & Foerster LLP, Washington, D.C.; Jordan Eth, Mark R. S. Foster, and James R. Sigel, Morrison & Foerster LLP, San Francisco, California; Daryl Joseffer and Janet Galeria, U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, Washington, D.C.; for Amici Curiae Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, and Alliance for Automotive Innovation.