Southern District Magistrate Judge Debra Freeman has ordered plaintiffs in the sprawling consolidated securities fraud litigation against American International Group and dozens of individual and underwriter defendants to hand over the names of three confidential witnesses. She rejected arguments by the lead plaintiff’s lawyers at Barrack Rodos that forcing them to disclose the witnesses’ identities would reveal confidential attorney work product, invite retaliation against the witnesses, and place a chill on securities litigation in general.
The ruling comes after AIG counsel Robert Carangelo of Weil, Gotshal & Manges asked the court to compel the plaintiffs to release the witnesses names, arguing that allowing them “to use these witnesses’ statements as a sword while simultaneously shielding their identities from disclosure is contrary to the law and simple fairness.”
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