Plaintiffs are looking to the past to find material on which to file class action securities lawsuits, according to sources that track filings.

Within recent months, plaintiffs filed lawsuits with class dates going back to 2007. Waiting nearly two years after an alleged class period has ended to file an action is very

rare, as plaintiffs attorneys typically rush to be the first to represent a class, several legal experts said.

“It’s definitely unusual to reach back so far,” agreed Renee L. Siemens, a partner and directors and officers liability expert representing policyholders at Proskauer Rose L.L.P. in Los Angeles.

While there have been only a few cases filed this year against the directors and officers of nonfinancial services companies on behalf of 2007 investor classes, some experts said

they expect to see more because many banks and other financial entities that became preferred targets after the onset of the financial crises already have been sued.

That has left plaintiffs attorneys to look for new targets other than banks, subprime lenders or Bernard Madoff-related companies to sue, they added. But with the stock market’s recent performance, in which most companies have lost substantial value, it is difficult to allege directors and officers are responsible for a company’s more recent stock decline, they added.

“I subscribe to the theory these guys have been so busy on the (financial institution) side that now they are going to start going back and looking at what other cases they have (previously) looked at, but did not act on,” said Evan J. Rosenberg, senior vp for Chubb

Specialty Insurance in Warren, N.J.

“So I do think there will be an increase in D&O lawsuits against commercial (nonfinancial) enterprises in 2009 and 2010.”

Most recently, the plaintiff firm Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins L.L.P. filed class action litigation against Kenexa Corp., a software developer for human resources

departments.

The filing alleges that during part of 2007, Wayne, Pa.-based Kenexa failed to disclose material adverse facts about its true financial condition. Then its stock price fell 40% to

$16.61 per share after a November 2007 earnings announcement.

The lawsuit filed June 11 represents a class period stretching from May 2007 to November 2007.

Other securities lawsuits filed this year with 2007 class dates include actions against Liz Claiborne Inc. and Coach Inc.

“Stale claims,” however, may not be as favorable for plaintiffs as those they selected to act on earlier, said Dan A. Bailey, a partner and defense attorney in the Columbus, Ohio,

office of Bailey Cavalieri L.L.C.

But plaintiffs attorneys will have to shift from the “low-hanging fruit” represented by financial institutions to other commercial targets, said Steve Shappell, managing director of the legal and claims practice for Aon Corp.’s financial services group.

“They are beating up the financial institution arena so bad that, at some point, they are going to have to redirect their attention,” Mr. Shappell said.

Recent lawsuits against the directors and officers of nonfinancial services companies that have filed for bankruptcy offer a sign that plaintiffs are seeking a broader range of

targets, said Kevin M. LaCroix, a partner in Beachwood, Ohio, for executive liability insurance intermediary OakBridge Insurance Services L.L.C.

Information compiled by the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse in cooperation with Cornerstone Research shows litigation against financial services companies dominated securities class action suits filed during 2008, with 103 out of 210 federal cases involving financial services companies.

Several plaintiffs attorneys declined to comment or did not return telephone calls.

But plaintiffs attorney Samuel H. Rudman told attendees at a February Professional Liability Underwriting Society D&O symposium to expect more lawsuits filed this year with 2007 class dates, according to attendees.

Mr. Rudman, a securities expert at Coughlin Stoia in New York, did not return a call seeking comment.

But he said at the PLUS symposium that more lawsuits with 2007 class dates are expected because of a two-year statute of limitations and the stock market’s recent performance has limited opportunities for lawsuits with current class dates.