Companies Implicated in Options Backdating Class Action Lawsuits

Securities Litigation watch has been keeping a list of firms that have been hit with securities class action lawsuits. Here's what they have on the list so far:

* American Tower Corp (AMT)
* Brocade Communications Systems (BRCD)
* Brooks Automation, Inc (BRKS)
* Comverse Technology, Inc. (CMVT)
* Juniper Networks, Inc. (JNPR)
* KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC)
* Mercury Interactive Corp. (MERQ)
* Rambus, Inc. (RMBS)
* Safenet, Inc. (SFNT)
* UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (UNH)
* Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. (VTSS)

Bookmark the list - I'm sure it'll grow quickly.

I'm actually surprised that the list is so small. At a recent conference, I was talking to a friend of mine who's done quite a bit of corporate governance work. He said he's met a number of securities class-action lawyers. A couple of them would file preemptive lawsuits as soon as a firm's stock price dropped by a certain amount. I doubt they're representative of the legal profession as a whole. Or at least I hope not - my friend described them as the ambulance chasers of the securities class action world -- complete with flashy jewelry and all the trappings!

But if they are, I'd expect the postdating-related floodgates to open wide in the next couple of months.

Related piece: WSJ Options Scandal Scorecard.