Supreme Court To Reconsider "Fraud-on-the-Market" Presumption in Securities Fraud Class Actions

On March 5, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the much anticipated case of Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc., No. 13-317. The Halliburton case presents a critical issue regarding the viability of maintaining a private securities fraud lawsuit as a class action: whether the plaintiffs are permitted to invoke the "fraud-on-the-market" presumption to establish that there are common issues of reliance sufficient to certify a class.