June 16, 2021
For the past several years, life sciences companies have been a frequent target of securities class action lawsuits. These lawsuits often arise from statements regarding the development, efficacy, and/or success of an emerging drug or life sciences product. Among the key arguments that life sciences companies can make in defending against these lawsuits is that such disclosures are nonactionable statements of opinion under the Supreme Court’s decision in Omnicare.
In this hour-long, remote program, for which CLE credit will be provided, Jennifer Conn, Jane Love and Lawrence Zweifach of Gibson Dunn, as well as Yan Cao of Cornerstone Research, will provide an overview of: filing trends and developments in securities lawsuits against life sciences companies; typical factual scenarios giving rise to securities lawsuits against life sciences companies and the types of claims frequently asserted; and how the Omnicare decision has been and may be applied in life sciences cases.
View Slides (PDF)
PANELISTS:
Jennifer L. Conn is a litigation partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She is a member of Gibson Dunn’s Securities Litigation, Securities Enforcement, Appellate, and Privacy, Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection Practice Groups. Ms. Conn has extensive experience in a wide range of complex commercial litigation matters, including those involving securities, financial services, accounting, business restructuring and reorganization, antitrust, contracts, and information technology. In addition, Ms. Conn is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, lecturing on securities litigation.
Jane M. Love, Ph.D. is Chair of the Life Sciences and the Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Groups, and is a partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Dr. Love is a first-chair litigator who handles high value patent litigation for pharma and biotech companies including global litigation coordination. She has extensive experience in Hatch-Waxman and BPCIA litigation in federal district courts and the Federal Circuit. As a registered patent attorney, Dr. Love is often lead counsel in disputes before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Dr. Love has handled cases spanning a wide variety of technologies including small molecules, biologics, therapeutic nucleic acids, and cell-based therapies and covering a wide variety of indications.
Lawrence J. Zweifach is a litigation partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and he is a member of the Firm’s Securities Litigation and Securities Enforcement Practice Groups. Mr. Zweifach is a nationally recognized trial lawyer, a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and he has been acclaimed as one of the country’s best litigators in Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Lawyers in America Hall of Fame.” Mr. Zweifach’s practice includes defending companies in securities class actions and SEC enforcement investigations. Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business ranked Mr. Zweifach among the top Securities Enforcement lawyers in the country, among the leading Securities Litigators in New York, and among the leading White Collar Criminal Defense Lawyers in New York. He also has been recognized as a National and Local “Litigation Star” and has been listed in the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America” by Benchmark Litigation.
Yan Cao is a Vice President at Cornerstone Research’s New York office. Dr. Cao specializes in issues related to financial economics and financial reporting across a range of complex litigation and regulatory proceedings. Her experience covers securities, market manipulation, M&A, risk management, and bankruptcy matters. Dr. Cao has fifteen years of experience consulting on securities class actions that cover a wide variety of industries, with a focus on financial institutions. She has also worked on regulatory investigation and enforcement matters led by the SEC, the CFTC, the DOJ, the NY Fed, and state AGs. Dr. Cao is a Chartered Financial Analysist (CFA) and a Certified Public Accountant.
MCLE CREDIT INFORMATION:
This program has been approved for credit in accordance with the requirements of the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board for a maximum of 1.0 credit hours, of which 1.0 credit hours may be applied toward the areas of professional practice requirement.
This course is approved for transitional/non-transitional credit. Attorneys seeking New York credit must obtain an affirmation form prior to watching the archived version of this webcast. Please contact [email protected] to request the MCLE form.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP certifies that this activity has been approved for MCLE credit by the State Bar of California in the amount of 1.0 hours.
California attorneys may claim “self-study” credit for viewing the archived version of this webcast. No certificate of attendance is required for California “self-study” credit.