Kniffin v. Micron Tech., Inc.

379 F. Supp. 3d 259
District Court, S.D. Illinois·Decided April 30, 2019·No. 19cv678; 19cv990; 19cv2136·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

WILLIAM H. PAULEY III, Senior United States District Judge:

Various plaintiffs in three federal securities class actions against Micron Technology, Inc. ("Micron") and its officers (the "Individual Defendants") move to consolidate the actions and for appointment as lead plaintiff and lead counsel under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("PSLRA"). Following publication of the required notice, nine separate parties filed motions. Three presumptive plaintiffs remain: (1) Novriyanto Lius and Thomas Fish (the "Lius/Fish Group"), represented by Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP; (2) Dhiru Patel, Cetin Kayaer, and Alexandru Vintu (the "Micron Investor *262Group"), represented by Levi & Korsinsky, LLP; and (3) James Ferraro and the Ferraro Family Foundation, Inc. (the "Ferraro Group"), represented by the Rosen Law Firm. For the reasons that follow, the actions are consolidated, Thomas Fish is appointed lead plaintiff, and Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP is appointed lead counsel.

I. Consolidation

"Under the PSLRA, a court must decide whether to consolidate related actions prior to selecting a lead plaintiff." Phuong Ho v. NQ Mobile, Inc., 2014 WL 1389636, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 9, 2014) (quoting 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4(a)(3)(B)(ii) ). All movants endorse consolidation. The complaints make identical claims arising from the same alleged pattern of conduct-namely, that Micron and the Individual Defendants made false and misleading statements by failing to disclose that they were engaged in a price-fixing conspiracy with competitors. Minor differences in defendants and class periods "do not render consolidation inappropriate [where] the cases present sufficient common questions of fact and law, and the differences do not outweigh the interests of judicial economy served by consolidation." Kaplan v. Gelfond, 240 F.R.D. 88, 91 (S.D.N.Y. 2007). Accordingly, these actions are consolidated.

II. Appointment of Lead Plaintiff

A. Legal Standard

"The PSLRA requires courts to 'appoint the most adequate plaintiff as lead plaintiff for the consolidated actions' as soon as practicable after consolidation." Lu v. Jumei Int'l Holding Ltd., 2015 WL 4104570, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. June 22, 2015) (quoting 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4(a)(3)(B)(iii) ). "The PSLRA creates a rebuttable presumption that the lead plaintiff should be the plaintiff who (a) has either filed a complaint or moved for lead plaintiff status; (b) has the largest financial interest in the relief sought; and (c) otherwise satisfies the typicality and adequacy requirements of [ Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 ]." Phuong Ho, 2014 WL 1389636, at *1 (citation omitted).

B. Disaggregation of the Unrelated Investor Groups

The PSLRA provides that a "group of persons" may be appointed lead plaintiff. 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4(a)(3)(B)(iii)(I). "The majority of courts, including those in this District, ... permit[ ] unrelated investors to join together as a group seeking lead-plaintiff status on a case-by-case basis, if such a grouping would best serve the class." Varghese v. China Shenghuo Pharm. Holdings, Inc., 589 F.Supp.2d 388, 392 (S.D.N.Y. 2008). However, a court must consider one "overarching concern"-"whether the related members of the group can function cohesively and effectively manage the litigation apart from their lawyers." Nakamura v. BRF S.A., 2018 WL 3217412, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. July 2, 2018) (citation and quotation marks omitted).

Accordingly, a proposed group must proffer an evidentiary showing that unrelated members of a group will be able to function cohesively and to effectively manage the litigation apart from their lawyers before its members will be designated as presumptive lead plaintiffs. Factors that courts have considered when evaluating whether a group's members will function cohesively and separately from their lawyers include evidence of: (1) the existence of a pre-litigation relationship between group members; (2) involvement of the group members in the litigation thus far; (3) plans for cooperation; (4) the sophistication of its members; and (5) whether the members chose outside counsel, and not vice versa.

*263Phuong Ho, 2014 WL 1389636, at *4 (citation and quotation marks omitted).

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Kniffin v. Micron Tech., Inc., 379 F. Supp. 3d 259 (S.D. Ill. 2019).

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