[go: up one dir, main page]

IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/quaeco/v84y2022icp596-609.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Law firm market share and securities class action litigation outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Qiming
  • Cheng, C.S Agnes
  • Lian, Qin
  • Liu, Cathy Zishang
Abstract
Using a large sample of securities class action lawsuits, we examine the association of law firm market share with litigation outcomes. We find lawsuits with top market share plaintiff law firms are less likely to be dismissed and take longer to be dismissed and to reach settlement. In contrast, lawsuits with top defendant law firms reach settlement faster. Top market share defendant law firms are neither associated with suit dismissal nor with speed of dismissal. Finally, neither top plaintiff nor top defendant law firms are associated with the cash and/or total settlement amount. These results suggest plaintiff and/or defendant law firm market share is an important factor in securities class action litigation outcomes. The results favor the view that plaintiff and defendant law firms with a higher market share are more reputable and better serve the interests of their respective clients in securities class action litigations.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Qiming & Cheng, C.S Agnes & Lian, Qin & Liu, Cathy Zishang, 2022. "Law firm market share and securities class action litigation outcomes," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 596-609.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:quaeco:v:84:y:2022:i:c:p:596-609
    DOI: 10.1016/j.qref.2020.10.013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1062976920301307
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.qref.2020.10.013?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joshua D. Angrist & Alan B. Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 69-85, Fall.
    2. Lily Hua Fang, 2005. "Investment Bank Reputation and the Price and Quality of Underwriting Services," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2729-2761, December.
    3. Arena, Matteo & Julio, Brandon, 2015. "The Effects of Securities Class Action Litigation on Corporate Liquidity and Investment Policy," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(1-2), pages 251-275, April.
    4. Newey, Whitney K., 1987. "Efficient estimation of limited dependent variable models with endogenous explanatory variables," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 231-250, November.
    5. Ligon, James A. & Malm, James, 2018. "Litigation risk, financial distress, and the use of subsidiaries," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 255-272.
    6. Agnes Cheng, C.S. & He Huang, Henry & Li, Yinghua & Lobo, Gerald, 2010. "Institutional monitoring through shareholder litigation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 356-383, March.
    7. Brian T. Fitzpatrick, 2010. "An Empirical Study of Class Action Settlements and Their Fee Awards," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(4), pages 811-846, December.
    8. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    9. Rogers, Jonathan L. & Van Buskirk, Andrew, 2009. "Shareholder litigation and changes in disclosure behavior," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1-2), pages 136-156, March.
    10. Patricia M. Dechow & Richard G. Sloan & Amy P. Sweeney, 1996. "Causes and Consequences of Earnings Manipulation: An Analysis of Firms Subject to Enforcement Actions by the SEC," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(1), pages 1-36, March.
    11. Jack Bao & Alex Edmans, 2011. "Do Investment Banks Matter for M&A Returns?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(7), pages 2286-2315.
    12. Song, Moon H. & Walkling, Ralph A., 1993. "The Impact of Managerial Ownership on Acquisition Attempts and Target Shareholder Wealth," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(4), pages 439-457, December.
    13. C. N. V. Krishnan & Ronald W. Masulis, 2013. "Law Firm Expertise and Merger and Acquisition Outcomes," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(1), pages 189-226.
    14. Raghavendra Rau, P., 2000. "Investment bank market share, contingent fee payments, and the performance of acquiring firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 293-324, May.
    15. repec:fth:prinin:455 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Bernard S. Black & Brian R. Cheffins & Michael Klausner, 2006. "Outside Director Liability: A Policy Analysis," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 162(1), pages 5-20, March.
    17. AC Pritchard, 2007. "Do the Merits Matter More? The Impact of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(3), pages 627-652, October.
    18. Palmrose, Zoe-Vonna & Richardson, Vernon J. & Scholz, Susan, 2004. "Determinants of market reactions to restatement announcements," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 59-89, February.
    19. Beatty, Randolph P & Welch, Ivo, 1996. "Issuer Expenses and Legal Liability in Initial Public Offerings," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(2), pages 545-602, October.
    20. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:1:p:285-311 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Gande, Amar & Lewis, Craig M., 2009. "Shareholder-Initiated Class Action Lawsuits: Shareholder Wealth Effects and Industry Spillovers," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(4), pages 823-850, August.
    22. Andrey Golubov & Dimitris Petmezas & Nickolaos G. Travlos, 2012. "When It Pays to Pay Your Investment Banker: New Evidence on the Role of Financial Advisors in M&As," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(1), pages 271-312, February.
    23. Arena, Matteo P. & Ferris, Stephen P., 2018. "A global analysis of corporate litigation risk and costs," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 28-41.
    24. Megginson, William L & Weiss, Kathleen A, 1991. "Venture Capitalist Certification in Initial Public Offerings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(3), pages 879-903, July.
    25. James Malm & Hari P. Adhikari & Marcin Krolikowski & Nilesh Sah, 2017. "Litigation risk and investment policy," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 41(4), pages 829-840, October.
    26. Joshua Angrist & Alan Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Working Papers 834, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    27. Charles W. Calomiris & Donna M. Hitscherich, 2007. "Banker Fees and Acquisition Premia for Targets in Cash Tender Offers: Challenges to the Popular Wisdom on Banker Conflicts," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 4(4), pages 909-938, December.
    28. A. C. Pritchard & Hillary A. Sale, 2005. "What Counts as Fraud? An Empirical Study of Motions to Dismiss Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 2(1), pages 125-149, March.
    29. Field, Laura & Lowry, Michelle & Shu, Susan, 2005. "Does disclosure deter or trigger litigation?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 487-507, September.
    30. Krishnan, C.N.V. & Solomon, Steven Davidoff & Thomas, Randall S., 2017. "The impact on shareholder value of top defense counsel in mergers and acquisitions litigation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 480-495.
    31. Helland, Eric, 2006. "Reputational Penalties and the Merits of Class-Action Securities Litigation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 49(2), pages 365-395, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lin, Hsien-Ping & Walker, M. Mark & Wang, Yung-Jang, 2020. "Shareholder wealth effects of corporate fraud: Evidence from Taiwan’s securities investor and futures trader protection act," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 222-243.
    2. Wilson, Jared I., 2020. "The consequences of limiting shareholder litigation: Evidence from exclusive forum provisions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Malm, James & Soyeh, Kenneth W. & Kanuri, Srinidhi, 2023. "Litigation risk and corporate performance," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    4. Dan Amiram & Zahn Bozanic & James D. Cox & Quentin Dupont & Jonathan M. Karpoff & Richard Sloan, 2018. "Financial reporting fraud and other forms of misconduct: a multidisciplinary review of the literature," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 732-783, June.
    5. Anup Agrawal & Tommy Cooper & Qin Lian & Qiming Wang, 2013. "Common Advisers in Mergers and Acquisitions: Determinants and Consequences," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(3), pages 691-740.
    6. Habib, Ahsan & Jiang, Haiyan & Bhuiyan, Md. Borhan Uddin & Islam, Ainul, 2014. "Litigation risk, financial reporting and auditing: A survey of the literature," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 145-163.
    7. Bi, XiaoGang & Wang, Danni, 2018. "Top-tier financial advisors, expropriation and Chinese mergers & acquisitions," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 157-166.
    8. Gabriel J. Power & Issouf Soumaré & Djerry C. Tandja M., 2022. "Certification by financial and legal advisors in private debt markets," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 57(4), pages 893-923, November.
    9. Kim, Irene & Skinner, Douglas J., 2012. "Measuring securities litigation risk," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 290-310.
    10. Basnet, Anup & Davis, Frederick & Walker, Thomas & Zhao, Kun, 2021. "The effect of securities class action lawsuits on mergers and acquisitions," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    11. Islam, Emdad & Rahman, Lubna, 2023. "Shades of grey: Risk-related agency conflicts and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    12. Eaton, Gregory W. & Guo, Feng & Liu, Tingting & Officer, Micah S., 2022. "Peer selection and valuation in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(1), pages 230-255.
    13. Joshua Cutler & Angela K. Davis & Kyle Peterson, 2019. "Disclosure and the outcome of securities litigation," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 230-263, March.
    14. Dain C. Donelson & Justin J. Hopkins & Christopher G. Yust, 2018. "The cost of disclosure regulation: evidence from D&O insurance and nonmeritorious securities litigation," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 528-588, June.
    15. Denis Schweizer & Ge Wu, 2021. "Law Firm expertise and shareholder wealth," Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 129-163, November.
    16. Cassella, Stefano & Rizzo, A. Emanuele, 2023. "The equity value implications of court ideology: Evidence from federal judge turnover," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Kubick, Thomas R. & Lockhart, G. Brandon & Mauer, David C., 2023. "Judge ideology and debt contracting," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    18. Brochet, Francois & Srinivasan, Suraj, 2014. "Accountability of independent directors: Evidence from firms subject to securities litigation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 430-449.
    19. Malmendier, Ulrike M. & Karsten, Christel & Sautner, Zacharias, 2020. "Lawyer Expertise and Contract Design – Evidence from M&A Negotiations," CEPR Discussion Papers 14936, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Gabriel J. Power & Djerry C. Mbianda Tandja, 2022. "Should lenders also advise? Evidence from project loans," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 45(4), pages 961-985, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Class action lawsuits; Law firm market share; Conflict of interest; Litigation outcomes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law
    • K40 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:quaeco:v:84:y:2022:i:c:p:596-609. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620167 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.