Federal securities filings continued to slow during the second half of 2021. The volume of new securities cases filed in 2021 fell by 36% compared to 2020, and 51% compared to 2019. Nonetheless, federal and state securities laws continue to develop in the courts. This year-end update summarizes major developments since our last update in August 2021:

• The second half of 2021 was relatively quiet with regard to noteworthy securities litigation activity from the Supreme Court. We discuss the settlement of a case that would have asked the Court to decide whether the PSLRA’s discovery-stay provision applies in state court, and a ruling that ERISA plan fiduciaries must conduct their own independent evaluation to determine which investments may be prudently included in the plan’s menu of options.
• Three recent decisions from Delaware courts will impact how stockholder derivative claims are investigated and litigated. We also discuss two decisions that enforced an advance notice bylaw and a contractual waiver of statutory appraisal rights.
• We continue to monitor courts’ application of the disseminator theory of liability recognized by the Supreme Court’s 2019 decision in Lorenzo, including differing interpretations regarding whether liability under Lorenzo applies to a broad swath of misrepresentations, or only in the more limited context of fraudulent dissemination.
• We again survey securities-related lawsuits arising out of, or otherwise related to, the COVID-19 pandemic,...

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