Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc.
United States Supreme Court
573 U.S. 258, 134 S.Ct. 2398, 189 L.Ed.2d 339 (2014)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Erica P. John Fund, Inc. (EPJ Fund) (plaintiff) brought suit against Halliburton Co. (Halliburton) (defendant), alleging that between June 3, 1999, and December 7, 2001, Halliburton made several misrepresentations regarding its revenue, a prospective merger, and potential liabilities. EPJ Fund filed a motion to certify as a class all investors that bought Halliburton common stock during this time period. Halliburton opposed the motion, arguing that the alleged misrepresentations had no impact on the price of Halliburton stock. Halliburton argued that this lack of price impact rebutted the presumption established in Basic Inc. v. Levinson, 485 U.S. 224 (1988), that investors rely on company misstatements in the buying and selling of the company’s stock. EPJ Fund argued that such rebuttal may be done only at the merits stage of a lawsuit, not at the class-certification stage. The court of appeals held that Halliburton may not rebut this presumption of reliance at the class-certification stage. Halliburton petitioned for certiorari, arguing that Basic should be overturned. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Roberts, C.J.)
Concurrence (Thomas, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 802,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
