Making Securities Fraud Class Actions Virtuous

In Part I of the essay (borrowing from Mark Twain, entitled "Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics") we examine the irrelevance of most of the data considered by the Congress during its hearings in 1993 and 1994 focused on securities fraud class actions. Part II responds to several commentators who argue against an entity-based sanction for market fraud; we argue that entity liability should be seen as a power disciplining force and not merely shifting money from one set of pockets to another. The final portion of the paper critques the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. We conclude that the protector of the the class action's virtue lies with the superintending powers of the judiciary.