“What Do You Have To Have? Pictures?”

The 11th Circuit (Florida, Georgia, Alabama) is a tough place to bring a successful securities class action. That appears to be the conclusion of a Miami Daily Business Review feature article (via law.com – regist. req’d) on the topic. The article notes that a recent NERA report found that 10 percent of the securities class actions filed in the 11th Circuit since the passage of the PSLRA have been dismissed within two years – tied for second place among all circuits. The article also profiles some prominent cases.

Quote of note: A plaintiffs’ attorney in Florida contended “that the 11th Circuit’s standard for inferring intent to defraud — as set out in the 11th Circuit’s 1999 decision Bryant v. Avado — has ‘heightened the pleading requirements beyond the intent of Congress. Motive and opportunity and damages are not enough [in the 11th Circuit],’ [the plaintiffs’ attorney] said. ‘What do you have to have? Pictures? You almost need an insider to get to discovery.'”