Paul, Weiss is widely recognized as having one of the nation’s preeminent securities litigation and regulatory practices. For two decades, our lawyers have guided global corporations and financial institutions through a series of “bet-the-company” securities-related crises, consistently reducing or eliminating their most damaging claims and negotiating favorable resolutions.
SDNY Dismisses Securities Class Action Against Omega Protein Corp.
- Client News
- September 7, 2018
Practices
Paul, Weiss secured the dismissal of a securities fraud class action against Omega Protein Corp., its CFO and CEO. Shareholders sued Omega in March 2017, after the nutritional products company—which catches and processes menhaden fish for use in animal nutrition products—pleaded guilty to violating the conditions of probation that had been imposed for prior Clean Water Action violations. In their complaint, filed in federal district court in Manhattan, shareholders alleged that Omega and its senior management knew about, but failed to disclose, those violations before the guilty plea, violating Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act.
In dismissing the case, U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel held that investors had failed to make a convincing argument that Omega had made actionable misrepresentations or omissions. The judge found that Omega’s statements that it had a “comprehensive [environmental] compliance program” were “too general” to be actionable, and its disclosures concerning potential criminal liability for environmental violations were adequate.
The Paul, Weiss team defending Omega included litigation partner Richard Rosen and counsel Jonathan Hurwitz.