United States Ninth Circuit

In a securities fraud class action, an order refusing to dismiss as to several individual defendants is vacated and remanded where: 1) the inference that high ranking corporate officers have knowledge of the company's core operations was alone not strong enough to satisfy the scienter pleading requirements of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA); but 2) considering the Supreme Court's recent decision in Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues and Rights, Ltd., the "core operations" inference combined with other allegations, might together adequately plead scienter.

Appellate Information

• Argued 04/08/2008
• Decided 09/09/2008
• Published 09/09/2008

Judges

• GOULD, Circuit Judge:, Before:  RAYMOND C. FISHER, RONALD M. GOULD, and SANDRA S. IKUTA, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Stephen M. Rummage, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Seattle, WA, and Jay B. Kasner (argued), and Scott D. Musoff, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, New York, NY, for the appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Melvyn I. Weiss, Lori G. Feldman, and John Rediker, Milberg Weiss & Bershad LLP, New York, NY, and Stuart J. Guber and James Evangelista, Motley Rice LLC, Atlanta, GA, and Clifford A. Cantor, Law Offices of Clifford A. Cantor, P.C., Sammamish, WA, and Professor Arthur R. Miller (argued), New York University School of Law, for the appellee.