In re Rewalk Robotics Ltd. Stockholder Litigation (Lawyers Weekly No. 09-063-17)
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT CIV. NO. 16-3336- BLS 2 (Consol. with 16-3670-BLS 2) IN RE REWALK ROBOTICS LTD. STOCKHOLDER LITIGATION MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON DEFENDANTS’ RENEWED REQUEST TO STAY This is a putative class action brought pursuant to Sections 11, 12 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933. The lead case was filed October 31, 2016 and the second on November 30, 2106, with the two actions consolidated in January 2017. In April this year, the defendants moved to stay this case because of pending parallel federal multi-district litigation proceedings. This Court (Salinger, J.) denied that request because nothing had taken place of note in the federal litigation and because this case was filed first. Defendants then moved to dismiss the case pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), Mass.R.Civ. P. One (but not the only) basis for that motion was that this Court does not have subject matter jurisdiction — an issue over which federal courts have split and which was central to a case which was the subject of a then pending petition for writ of certiorari before the United States Supreme Court. A hearing on the Motion to Dismiss was held on October 18, 2017 and the matter taken under advisement. Shortly thereafter, four of the individual defendants who resided overseas moved to dismiss for lack of service of process; the plaintiffs responded by asking for more time. At a hearing on this latest motion, defense counsel again renewed their request to stay based on developments since Judge Salinger ruled. This Court now agrees that this action should be stayed in favor of the pending federal proceedings. Since the original motion to stay was filed, the pending federal litigation in Massachusetts has been expanded to include a case that had been originally filed in California. There is therefore not just one but two federal cases here that raises the same issues and involves the same parties. Requiring the parties to litigate in two separate forums — particularly where the federal action is broader and thus will likely proceed regardless of what this Court does – is not a wise use of judicial or litigation resources. The petition to the United States Supreme Court has been granted, and arguments on that case were heard on November 28, 2017. If the Supreme Court concludes that this Court does not have jurisdiction, then this case will have to be dismissed. Most important, defendants have filed a motion to dismiss in the federal litigation that makes similar (if not entirely identical) arguments as were asserted in the motion that this Court heard on October 18. A hearing on that motion […]
Categories: News Tags: 0906317, Lawyers, Litigation, Ltd., ReWalk, Robotics, Stockholder, Weekly
In re OvaScience Inc. Stockholder Litigation (Lawyers Weekly No. 09-050-17)
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL ACTION NO. 2015-3087-BLS2 (Consol. with 16-0645) IN RE OVASCIENCE INC. STOCKHOLDER LITIGATION MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION This is a putative class action arising under Sections 11, 12, and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933. Plaintiffs Westmoreland County Employee Retirement System, Phillip Hofmann, Carlos Rivas, and Cesar Castellanos are investors who purchased stock in the defendant OvaScience, Inc. (OvaScience). They allege that a Registration Statement and Prospectus issued in connection with a secondary offering of OvaScience stock on January 8, 2015 contained false statements and material omissions of fact concerning an experimental fertility treatment that OvaScience was in the process of developing. The case is now before the Court on the plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification pursuant to Mass R. Civ. P. 23. The plaintiffs seek to certify a nationwide class that consists of all persons who purchased OvaScience stock “pursuant and/or traceable to” the January 8 2015 secondary offering.1 Alternatively, they seek statewide class certification consisting of the Massachusetts-based purchasers. This Court concludes that the plaintiffs’ Motion must be DENIED. 1 Excluded from the proposed class are each of the defendants, past and current officers and directors of OvaScience, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, and Leerink Partners LLC, their affiliates or sponsors, the members of their families, and any entity which any defendant has or had a controlling interest, and the legal representatives, heirs, successors, or assigns of any such excluded party. 2 Certification of this class requires this Court to exercise personal jurisdiction over absent class members who are not residents of Massachusetts. Whether that can be done consistent with due process was first addressed by the Supreme Court in Phillips Petroleum Co v. Stutts, 472 U.S. 797 (1985) (Stutts). The Court reasoned that, “[b]ecause a state places fewer burdens upon an absent class plaintiff than it does upon an absent defendant in a nonclass suit, the Due Process Clause need not and does not afford the former as much protection from state-court jurisdiction as it does the latter.” 472 U.S. at 811. The Court went on to hold that the forum state may exercise jurisdiction over the absent class member even in the absence of minimum contacts so long as it provides certain basic due process protections. Id. At a minimum, that means that the absent plaintiff must have the opportunity to remove himself from the class. Because the case before it was brought in a state (Kansas) that permitted absent class members to opt out, the Supreme Court held that the state court could properly assert personal jurisdiction over nonresident class members. Massachusetts, of course, does not […]
Categories: News Tags: 0905017, Inc., Lawyers, Litigation, Ovascience, Stockholder, Weekly
In re OvaScience Inc. Stockholder Litigation (Lawyers Weekly No. 09-051-17)
1 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL ACTION NO. 2015-3087-BLS2 (Consol. with 16-0645) IN RE OVASCIENCE INC. STOCKHOLDER LITIGATION MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGEMENT This is a putative class action alleging violations of Sections 11, 12(a)(2), and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 ( the Securities Act). Plaintiffs Westmoreland County Employee Retirement System (Westmoreland), Phillip Hofmann, Carlos Rivas, and Cesar Castellanos are investors who purchased stock in the defendant OvaScience, Inc. (OvaScience).1 They allege that a Prospectus and Prospectus Supplement issued in connection with a secondary offering of OvaScience stock contained false statements and material omissions of fact concerning an experimental fertility treatment that OvaScience was in the process of developing. In addition to suing OvaScience, plaintiffs have also named as defendants certain of the company’s officers and directors as well as the three investment banks who served as the underwriters. The defendants now move for summary judgment against Castellanos, Hofmann, and Rivas (the Individual Plaintiffs). This Court concludes that the Motion must be ALLOWED. 1 Heather Carlson was also a plaintiff in the action. However, on August 1, 2017, the parties filed a joint stipulation voluntarily dismissing her from the action without prejudice. Judgment was entered on the docket pursuant to Mass. R. Civ. P. 58(a) on August 3, 2017. 2 BACKGROUND On January 8, 2015, OvaScience conducted a secondary public stock offering in which it sold 2,645,000 shares at $ 50 per share (the January 8 Offering). J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, and Leerink Partners LLC served as the Underwriters. The offering closed on January 13, 2015, at which point there were over 27 million OvaScience shares outstanding. At various points in 2015, the Individual Plaintiffs made purchases of OvaScience stock through online brokers E*Trade and Capital One Investing. On January 8, 2015, Castellano purchased 350 shares at $ 50.488. He made four more purchases between January 12 and February 3, 2015 for a price per share that ranged from $ 40.0899 up to $ 48.1799. Rivas made seven purchases between March 2015 and August 2015 for a price per share ranging from $ 24.32 to $ 41.49. Hoffman made three purchases between February and April 2015 for a price per share that ranged from $ 31.83 to $ 42.107485. In October 2015, plaintiffs Hofmann and Rivas filed a lawsuit against the defendants; Castellanos filed a separate complaint based on the same allegations five months later, and the two actions were consolidated. In August 2016, Westmoreland intervened as plaintiff in the consolidated actions. After this Court denied a motion to dismiss, discovery proceeded on a bifurcated basis. Phase I of the discovery was limited to […]
Categories: News Tags: 0905117, Inc., Lawyers, Litigation, Ovascience, Stockholder, Weekly
In re ReWalk Robotics Ltd. Stockholder Litigation (Lawyers Weekly No. 12-048-17)
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT. 1684CV03336-BLS2 1684CV03670-BLS2 ____________________ IN RE REWALK ROBOTICS LITD. STOCKHOLDER LITIGATION ____________________ MEMORANDUM AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO STAY PENDING PARALLEL FEDERAL PROCEEDINGS The named plaintiffs in these putative class actions claim that ReWalk Robotics Ltd. and thirteen other defendants are liable under §§ 11, 12(a)(2), and 15 of the federal Securities Act because ReWalk purportedly made false statements in a registration statement and prospectus concerning a public offering of securities. The first of these actions was filed on October 31, 2016. The second was filed on November 30, 2016. They were consolidated on January 9, 2017. A similar lawsuit making similar Securities Act claims against the same Defendants was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on January 31, 2017. That lawsuit was docketed as Deng v. ReWalk Robotics et al., no. 1:17-cv-10179-FDS, and is pending before Judge Saylor. Defendants have moved to stay these state court proceedings pending dispositive resolution of this federal lawsuit.1 A trial judge has broad discretion to grant or deny a stay of proceedings pending resolution of the same or similar claims in another forum. Travenol Laboratories, Inc. v. Zotal, Ltd., 394 Mass. 95, 97 (1985). The Court concludes, in the exercise of its discretion, that there is no good reason to stay these actions. It will therefore DENY Defendants’ motion. 1 When Defendants filed their motion to stay, they represented that a second federal class action asserting similar claims had been filed against them in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and that Defendants have moved to have the two federal actions consolidated in the District of Massachusetts as a single multidistrict litigation proceeding. In their reply memorandum, however, Defendants report that the California action was voluntarily dismissed on March 23, 2017. As a result, there are currently only two sets of actions asserting similar Securities Act claims against ReWalk and the other Defendants: these two actions in Massachusetts Superior Court and the Deng case filed several months later in federal court in the District of Massachusetts. – 2 – Although Defendants argue that it would be inefficient for these cases and the pending federal action to proceed at the same time, they do not muster any convincing explanation as to why they seek a stay of these actions in Massachusetts court rather than asking the federal judge to stay the later-filed federal action. The first of these consolidated actions was filed in the Massachusetts Superior Court three months before the pending federal action was filed. Furthermore, the additional factual allegations asserted in the consolidated complaint in these actions suggest that the state court plaintiffs have […]
Categories: News Tags: 1204817, Lawyers, Litigation, Ltd., ReWalk, Robotics, Stockholder, Weekly
In re Ovascience, Inc. Stockholder Litigation (Lawyers Weekly No. 12-177-16)
1 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT CIV. NO. 15-03087 BLS 2 (Consol. With 16-0645) IN RE OVASCIENCE, INC. STOCKHOLDER LITIGATION MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS This is a putative class action brought pursuant to Sections 11, 12 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933. Plaintiffs are investors who purchased stock in the defendant Ovascience, Inc. (Ovascience or the Company). They allege that a Registration Statement issued in connection with a secondary offering of Ovascience stock on January 8, 2015 (the January 8 Offering), contained false statements and material omissions of fact concerning an experimental fertility treatment (AUGMENT) that Ovascience was in the process of developing. In addition to suing Ovascience, plaintiffs have also named as defendants certain of the Company’s officers and directors (collectively, the Ovascience defendants) as well as three investment banks, J.P. Morgan, Credit Suisse and Leerink Partners, which were the underwriters in the January 8 Offering (the Underwriters). The case is now before the Court on the defendants’ Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b) (6), Mass.R.Civ.P. After careful review of the parties’ submissions, the Court concludes that the Motion should be DENIED. This memorandum sets forth a brief explanation of the reasons for that decision. The defendants makes two argument in support of their motion. First, they contend that the Complaint fails to allege sufficient facts, under the standard set forth in Iannachino v. Ford Motor Co., 451 U.S. Mass. 623 (2008), that the Registration Statement contained material 2 misrepresentations.1 This Court disagrees. The Complaint sets forth detailed allegations that the Registration Statement contained misleading statements or failed to include material facts regarding: 1) the science behind AUGMENT; 2) the success rate; 3) the reason why the Company undertook its studies outside of the United States; and 4) the profitability of the Company. Plaintiffs allege that, as a result of the falsely optimistic picture the Registration Statement painted regarding AUGMENT’s prospects as a fertility treatment, stocks prices for Ovascience briefly shot up (with certain of the individual defendants profiting from that rise), then sharply declined when the facts regarding AUGMENT emerged just a few months later – facts that were known at the time the Registration Statement issued. This more than satisfies the requirement that the Complaint set forth facts “plausibly suggesting (not merely consistent with) an entitlement to relief…” Iannacchino, supra, quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 Mass. 544, 555 (2007). The second argument concerns the issue of standing. The claims are brought pursuant to Section 11, 12 and 15 of the Securities Act. In order to have standing to bring a claim under Section 11, a plaintiff must have purchased shares either in the offering […]
Categories: News Tags: 1217716, Inc., Lawyers, Litigation, Ovascience, Stockholder, Weekly