Simpson Thacher Secures Dismissal of Long-Fought Consolidated Securities Litigation
On September 30, 2025, Simpson Thacher won dismissal on behalf of Pacific Gas and Electric Company directors of all key claims in a hard-fought securities litigation filed against those directors and others. Plaintiffs claimed PG&E and its directors' statements about vegetation management and regulatory compliance arising from Northern California wildfires in 2017 and 2018 were misleading and caused financial harm to investors. The court found that Plaintiffs lacked standing over three of the four challenged offerings and failed to plead actionable misrepresentations or omissions. Further, the Court ruled that Plaintiffs failed to plead a single actionable material misrepresentation or omission. Critically, the Court adopted the defense’s contextual approach to public disclosure, noting that when reviewing the filing in a broader context, “it is difficult to see how reasonable minds could differ as to the adequacy of PG&E’s disclosure.”
Since 2019, the Firm has led the defense of the former directors of PG&E in a variety of securities, derivative and bankruptcy matters arising from Northern California wildfires in 2017 and 2018, which ultimately led to PG&E’s 2019 bankruptcy. Multiple securities lawsuits were filed against the then-directors and officers in 2018 and consolidated before Judge Edward Davila in the Northern District of California. The Firm first filed motions to dismiss on behalf of the directors in 2019. The case was later stayed by the District Court during the pendency of parallel securities claim proceedings in PG&E’s bankruptcy before Judge Montali. Lead Plaintiff appealed the stay to the Ninth Circuit, where the Firm argued to maintain it. After the case was remanded in 2024, the Firm again filed formidable motions to dismiss on behalf of the directors.
Judge Davila also granted the motions to dismiss of the officer defendants and leave to amend. The litigation presents complex issues at the intersection between securities litigation and bankruptcy and has been covered by publications including Bloomberg, Law360 and others.
The Simpson Thacher team included Partners Steve Blake and Jonathan Youngwood, Counsel Jonathan Sanders, and Associates Hilary Wong and Shuhao Fan.