On June 20, 1997, WLF filed a brief with the California Supreme Court asking it to reverse a lower court decision and order the dismissal of a class-action securities fraud lawsuit which was filed in a California state court. WLF asserted that the lawsuit, which was purportedly brought on behalf of a nationwide class of investors, should not have been brought in state court under California state law. WLF argued that the federal courts are the appropriate forum for allegations of interstate securities fraud, and that the federal securities laws provide adequate protection for investors. WLF’s brief noted that many plaintiffs’ lawyers are now filing class-action securities lawsuits in state courts to avoid the procedural and substantive reforms imposed on such suits in federal court by Congress.
