In re Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation Securities Litigation, No. CV-08-01821 (D. Ariz.) Pomerantz LLP served as lead counsel for an individual options investor. The case broke new ground in the area of lead plaintiff appointments when the court ruled that the Firm’s client, an options investor, should be appointed lead plaintiff to represent a class composed of common stock and options investors. The case alleged that defendants, including Medicis, several of its executive officers, and its auditor Ernst & Young, engaged in deceptive revenue recognition practices that led to an overstatement of company earnings and an artificial inflation of its stock price. Although the initial amended complaint was dismissed, Pomerantz “expertized” the second amended complaint by incorporating the expert opinion of a professor of accounting from NYU’s Stern Business School and particularizing the economic impact of the alleged violation of Generally Accepted Accounting Procedures. The court sustained the second amended complaint, and granted final approval of a settlement totaling $18 million, in which Medicis agreed to pay $11 million and Ernst & Young paid $7 million.