Ex-CEO Hassan Loses Motion For Reconsideration: Enhance Securities Law Class Actions

Just this morning, Judge Cavanaugh issued an opinion, from the bench, in the federal District courthouse in Newark, New Jersey -- denying an attempted "classic second bite at the apple", for Fred Hassan, Hans Becherer, Carrie Cox, Patricia Russo, C. Robert Kidder, Tom Koestler and Tom Sabatino, among others. Each of these individuals is now about three steps closer to having to swear under oath about their respective roles in the Enhance delayed disclosure debacle. That debacle may fairly be seen as the most important single event in a chain of causation that led to the death of Schering-Plough as an independent publicly-traded pharma company. "Nice shootin' there, Tex!" From today's opinion, then:

. . . .Bearing in mind that this Court considered Iqbal [a newer Supreme Court decision], Defendants' motion to reconsider fails to demonstrate any intervening change in controlling law, presents no new evidence, and does not show a need to correct a clear error of law or prevent manifest injustice. In addition, Defendants' brief raises challenges to the factual allegations made by Plaintiffs in their Complaint, but attempts to couch these challenges in terms of art used in the Iqbal decision. In failing to persuade the Court to dismiss Plaintiffs' Complaint in their original motion to dismiss, Defendants' instant motion appears to be a "classic attempt at a second bite at the apple," Bhatnagar v. Surrendra Overseas Ltd., 52 F.3d 1220, 1231 (3d Cir. 1995), and simply a vehicle to "rehash arguments which have already been briefed by [Defendants] and considered and decided by the Court." Id. Consequently, Defendants' request that the Court reconsider its Opinion and Order, dated August 31, 2009, is denied. . . .

Buckle-up, Fred, Hans, Carrie, Patricia, Bob, Tom, and Tom -- your deposition seats are now just about set to go!