Merry-Go-Round

Judge David C. Godbey (N.D. Tex.), who tossed the Odyssey Healthcare securities class action last September, noted back then that “the iniquities of group pleading and puzzle pleading and” his “confidence that those issues would be addressed in any amended pleading.” Well, after reviewing the newly minted amended complaint, he now laments that “unfortunately, that confidence has proved to be unfounded.”

Guess it’s not a big surprise, as in the first dismissal Order, Judge Godbey noted his “view that the deficiencies it found were inherent in the facts, rather than reflecting any lack of effort by counsel, and that amendment would likely be unavailing.”

That notwithstanding, since the latest complaint only “adds two substantive paragraphs,” one of which “does not refer to any specific defendant,” and the other “fails to provide any factual basis for how the former general manager would have knowledge,” “the Court therefore grants Defendants' motion to dismiss,” this time “with prejudice.”

You can read In re Odyssey Healthcare, issued March 20, 2006, at 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23577.

Nugget: “It appears that by amending, Plaintiffs did not intend to cure the deficiencies found by the Court in the Dismissal Order, but rather to persuade the Court it should reconsider the Dismissal Order.”