Proposed Leads To Conduct Discovery On Each Other

It's enough trouble fighting Defendants, let alone other investors, but you know that's the way it goes in the world of securities class actions. This time, it's "London Pensions Fund Authority and National Elevator Industry Pension Fund ('London') v. "Biogen Institutional Investor Group." (Check out this devastating stock drop -- ouch). Although Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler (D. Mass.) noted that "the Biogen Institutional Investor Group appears to set forth the largest financial interest at the present time," "it nonetheless remains debatable whether the Biogen Institutional Investor Group or London is the most adequate lead plaintiff."

So, since "the PSLRA allows 'discovery into whether a member or members of the purported plaintiff class is the most adequate plaintiff' provided the movant sets forth 'a reasonable basis for a finding that the presumptively most adequate plaintiff is incapable of adequately representing the class,'" the court said it "will allow London a limited period to conduct discovery into the issue of the adequacy of the seven member Biogen Institutional Investor Group to best serve as lead plaintiff under 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4(a)(3)(B)."

You can read Brown v. Biogen, issued July 25, 2005, at 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19350.

Nugget: "Having allowed a limited period of discovery, this court will conduct a further hearing on the motions to appoint lead plaintiff and lead and liaison counsel …"