On February 22, 2011, in a much-anticipated ruling, Judge Richard J. Holwell of the Southern District of New York granted the motion by Vivendi, S.A. to dismiss all securities fraud claims brought against the company by purchasers of Vivendi common stock. The decision dramatically reduces the damages available to plaintiffs in the long-running class action litigation against Vivendi, which is the first and only so-called “foreign-cubed” case (i.e., a case in which foreign investors who purchased foreign securities on a foreign exchange bring securities claims in the U.S.) to have gone to trial. Based on a recent Supreme Court decision, Vivendi argued, and the District Court agreed, that plaintiffs who purchased Vivendi common stock could not bring securities fraud claims in a U.S. court. Cravath has represented Vivendi in this litigation since it commenced in 2002 and through the four-month jury trial in late 2009.
The Cravath team included Of Counsel Paul C. Saunders and partners Daniel Slifkin and Timothy G. Cameron.