Despite the turmoil and disruption of 2020, plaintiffs’ lawyers and courts appear to have adapted readily to our “new normal.” Although at lower rates than previous years, plaintiffs’ firms continued to file securities class actions against publicly traded pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and healthcare product and services companies in 2020, while courts continued to issue detailed, substantive decisions in these actions. The number of class action filings in state and federal courts from last year shows a 22% decline from a record level in 2019 – a decrease for the first time since 2016, but still far higher than the 1997-2019 average.
In Goodwin’s fifth annual Year in Review publication, we focus on active jurisdictions that are geographic epicenters for life sciences and healthcare companies: the First Circuit and the District of Massachusetts; the Second Circuit and New York District Courts; and the Ninth Circuit and California District Courts. In our analysis, we summarize key decisions issued in these jurisdictions during 2020 in class actions against life sciences and healthcare companies, as well as cases to watch in 2021.