(L-R)Scott Llewellyn and Michael Birnbaum of Morrison & Foerster. Courtesy photos

Litigators of the Week: The Morrison & Foerster Duo Who Went on the Offensive for a Client Targeted in a Short and Distort Attack

Scott Llewellyn and Michael Birnbaum of Morrison & Foerster unmasked the short-seller behind an attack article posted on financial website Seeking Alpha targeting their client Farmland Partners Inc. They also recovered a multiple of the profits the short-seller made when the price of FPI stock dropped 39% on the day of publication.

July 02, 2021 at 07:30 AM

8 minute read

Ross Todd
Editor/columnist

On July 11, 2018, the financial website Seeking Alpha posted an article by a pseudonymous author calling himself Rota Fortunae that made various claims about Farmland Partners Inc., a Colorado-based agricultural real estate trust. The central potentially damning takeaway from the post was that FPI faced "a significant risk of insolvency." The company's stock took a 39% hit on the day of publication.