Mixed Statements: The Safe Harbor's Rocky Shore

摘要

I. Introduction The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act creates a safe harbor that protects companies and individuals, under certain circumstances, from liability under the securities acts for making misleading statements that qualify as "forward-looking." Courts interpreting this statutory safe harbor are divided about how to treat mixed statements, in which statements about the past or the present are intertwined with statements about the future. This essay identifies three categories of mixed statement that are the subject of frequent litigation, demonstrates the courts' disagreement about how to treat these categories of statements, and — drawing from the statutory text and policy rationales — recommends whether the safe harbor should apply to each category of statement.