Without question, there's a lot riding on the outcome of StoneRidge Investment Partners LLC vs.
If the justices' recent rulings are any indication, StoneRidge will end up as another strike against class-action lawsuits.
What's more, the justices know if they rule in favor of StoneRidge, it would breathe life into the plaintiffs' bar.
Neither of the lower courts that heard the case bought StoneRidge's argument.
Despite the drum roll and heavyweight names, when the top court rules on the case later this term, expect it to go against StoneRidge.
StoneRidge stems from an agreement that Charter Communications, a cable company, had with two vendors, Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta, which supplied Charter with cable boxes.
StoneRidge's ability to go after the tech companies remains thwarted, however, by the outcome of a 1994 Supreme Court case known as Central Bank vs.
Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned down StoneRidge's claim, the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit court seemed to venture down a different legal path.
StoneRidge, an institutional investor in Charter, accused the two vendors of participating in a "scheme to defraud" investors and now wants the right to sue them for remediation.
The Supreme Court will soon decide Stoneridge Investment Partners v.
Stoneridge investors had argued that Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta should be held liable in a complex "scheme to defraud" investors because of an agreement they had with Charter Communications, a cable company.
Pro-lawyer members of Congress are still hoping to pass a law overturning the 2008 Stoneridge decision that rejected lawsuits against companies that perhaps inadvertently aided a manufacturer to pad its earnings numbers.
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If the Court's strict constructionists are to be intellectually honest in their interpretation of the meaning of "scheme" liability in StoneRidge next week, it would prove a revolutionary milestone in the saga of investor rights.
StoneRidge stems from an agreement that Charter Communications (nasdaq: CHTR - news - people ), a cable company, had with two vendors, Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ) and Scientific-Atlanta, which supplied Charter with cable boxes.
Stoneridge investors had argued that Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ) and Scientific-Atlanta should be held liable in a complex "scheme to defraud" investors because of an agreement they had with Charter Communications (nasdaq: CHTR - news - people ), a cable company.
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