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SILICON GRAPHICS SHAREHOLDERS TO APPEAL FRAUD SUIT DISMISSAL
SAN FRANCISCO-An attorney for the plaintiffs in one of the first lawsuits filed under a 1995 securities litigation reform law plans to appeal a federal judge's dismissal of the suit.
U.S. District Judge Fern Smith of San Francisco last month dismissed a class-action securities fraud suit brought against Silicon Graphics Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., holding that the plaintiffs failed to meet a standard of "a strong inference of knowing or intentional misconduct" to prove Silicon Graphics had defrauded investors, a charge the software
See Updates on next pagShareholder suit to be appealed
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company denied. The suit, filed in January 1996, sought unspecified damages from Silicon Graphics for allegedly making false statements about revenue growth.
Patrick Coughlin, a partner in the San Diego office of Milberg, Weiss, Bershad, Hunes & Lerach, confirmed that the ruling will be appealed.
Silicon Graphics attorney Bruce Vanjo, a partner in the Palo Alto, Calif., law firm Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, said the ruling was the first major decision under the 1995 Private Securities Litigation Reform Act.
The law, enacted in an override of President Clinton's veto, is intended to reduce the incidence of frivolous lawsuits in securities cases. Another bill was introduced last month to block attempts to circumvent the federal act by filing actions in state courts (BI, May 26).