b'Core Federal Filings for the Technology and Communications Sectors 20182020TechnnologyCommunication6650 50 472923 22293727 28181997-2019 Average 2018 2019 2020Note:1 Sectors are based on the Bloomberg Industry Classification System.2 Counts may not match previous publications due to case consolidations.have been dismissed more frequently than those filedAs we reported in last years Year in Review, 2019 saw by other law firms.6 a significant uptick40%from 2018 in the filing of While the overall number of cases in all industriescases alleging 1933 Act claims in state courts, following declined, as in past years, technology companies hadthe U.S. Supreme Courts March 2018 decision in Cyan the second highest number of securities class actionthat class actions under the 1933 Act can be brought filings against them in 2020 as compared to otherin state court and are not removable to federal court. sectors.7 The plaintiffs bar has focused on technologyIn 2020, however, the total number of 1933 Act filings companies in recent years likely due to the number ofdropped dramatically (from 66 in 2019 to 33 in 2020), companies in the sector and the potential volatility indespite the fact that the number of traditional initial8stock prices. However, as depicted in Figure 1 above,public offerings increased by 47% from 2019 to 2020.the number of filings against technology companiesPlaintiffs largely shifted away from filing these actions actually decreased for the first time in several yearsin state courts only (i.e., with no parallel federal action), from 66 securities class actions in 2019 to 47 actions inresulting in a 68% drop in the number of 1933 Act cases filed in state courts only from 2019 to 2020 and 2020. This 29% decrease is likely attributable to largelyan increase in 1933 Act filings in federal courts only.9 positive market performance by the technology sectorThis shift back to federal courts is primarily due to the following the initial market reaction to the pandemic.6See Cornerstone Report, at 34.7Cornerstone Report, at 32, Figure 31.8See Cornerstone Report, at 4, 19, 21; see also id. at 23 (165 operating company IPOs in 2020, a 47% increase from 2019). The number ofSPAC IPOs dramatically increased in 2020 as well, from 59 in 2019 to 248 in 2020. Id.9Id. at 4, 21. New York remained the preferred venue for 1933 Act cases filed in state courts, with seven of the 19 filings that were only filed instate court (i.e., with no parallel federal action). Id. at 4, 19.5'