PORTLAND, Ore. (Legal Newsline) – Though it filed its case more than a month after other firms had the idea, the securities class action law firm Grant & Eisenhofer wants to lead litigation against Portland General Electric.
On Nov. 2, the firm, which has teamed with Oregon’s Stoll Berne to represent a Mississippi public pension, asked that its Oct. 16 case be consolidated with another filed in September.
That Sept. 11 case was filed by attorneys at Black Helterline of Oregon and The Rosen Law Firm of New York. It followed a Sept. 3 lawsuit against PGE that has since been voluntarily dismissed.
And if they are grouped together, the Stoll and Grant firms want to be appointed lead counsel.
“The longer Class Period alleged by Mississippi PERS, which made considerable investments during both the Class Period and the Shorter Class Period and suffered substantial losses thereon, reflected a careful analysis of the claims in the Hessel and the Cannataro complaints and of Defendants’ earlier public statements concerning the subject matter of those complaints,” the motion for appointment says.
PGE announced a $128 million loss on Aug. 24 while placing two unnamed employees on administrative leave and creating a committee to review its energy trading practices. The news caused its stock price to fall by nearly 8% and wiped out more than $300 million in shareholder value, the lawsuit alleges.
Mississippi PERS has the largest financial interest and should be lead plaintiff, Grant & Eisenhofer argued. It says it lost more than $2.3 million on its investment.
Grant & Eisenhofer asked to be named lead counsel, with Stoll Berne serving as liaison counsel.