Firm partners Robert Bieck, Alex Breckinridge, and associate Tom Slattery obtained a victory for Orion Group Holdings, Inc. (Ticker Symbol “ORN”) in a federal securities class action, John Heck, et al. v. Orion Group Holdings, Inc., et al., in the Southern District of Texas. Facing one of the leading national securities plaintiff’s firms, Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP, the New Orleans-based securities litigation team convinced Judge Sim Lake to dismiss the stock-drop suit with prejudice and assess costs against the plaintiff.

The plaintiff’s case against specialty construction company Orion Group Holdings, Inc., and three of its executives alleged officers intentionally misrepresented the company’s financial condition in public filings and included accusations of false revenue recognition and record manipulation from two confidential witnesses, one a former Regional Controller at the company and the other a former Division Controller. After an earlier motion to dismiss by Jones Walker, the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed his first complaint and filed an amended complaint that added the confidential witness accounts.

Ruling on Jones Walker’s motion to dismiss the amended complaint, Judge Lake agreed the confidential witness accounts did not allege adequately the existence of any misrepresentation in public filings, much less that the officers knowingly omitted material information or otherwise made false statements. The court was also convinced by Jones Walker’s argument on causation grounds, agreeing that plaintiff did not adequately connect the purported earlier misstatements to the subsequent financial disclosures that preceded the drop in the company’s stock price.

Judge Lake also found further amendment by the plaintiff to be futile and denied leave to amend, dismissing the case with prejudice while also awarding costs to Orion and the Jones Walker team.