Stoneridge and the SEC

The WSJ published a great article on how each side obtained support in Stoneridge.  Of particular note was the reference to Harvey Pitt, the former chairman of the SEC.  As the article noted:

• Both sides reached out to Harvey Pitt, the first SEC chairman under President Bush. On June 20, Mr. Lerach met Mr. Pitt for breakfast at the Mayflower Hotel in downtown D.C., seeking support for the shareholders. But there was never any follow up, Mr. Pitt says. A few weeks later, Mr. Fleischman emailed Mr. Pitt. Traveling with his family in Barcelona, Spain, Mr. Pitt sent back edits from his hotel room and ultimately signed a brief backing the defendants.

But perhaps the most fascinating part of the article concerned efforts to reach Chairman Cox at the Commission.  Here is what the article described:

Lerach's team knew winning over the White House was hopeless because of the Bush administration's pro-business, anti-litigation bent. But they took solace in the fact that administration positions are usually shaped by the lead agency on the matter. They felt they could persuade SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, who they believed was sensitive to public opinion and eager to be portrayed as a champion of individual investors.

• On May 8, scores of letters from consumer groups -- organized by Mr. Newman -- began flowing into the SEC's office. The next morning, Mr. Newman organized a news conference with a group of Enron shareholders at a hotel near SEC headquarters. Mr. Newman knew he'd get far more attention if he tied the Stoneridge case to one of the biggest frauds in American business history.
• Mr. Newman had been seeking to get the Enron group a private meeting with Mr. Cox. That morning, he heard his request was denied. Mr. Newman immediately pecked out a hypothetical news release on his BlackBerry: "Although we traveled thousands of miles...to tell our stories as victims of the Enron fraud, Chairman Cox refused our request for a brief meeting." He sent it to Mr. Cox's office, noting he planned to issue the statement shortly.
• Mr. Newman's cellphone soon rang. A Cox aide said they should come that afternoon.
• During the meeting, Mr. Cox's aides noted the more than $400 million in fines they had extracted from the Enron fraud. Mr. Cox didn't commit to a position in the Stoneridge case but told the investors they could be confident the SEC would do its part to see they could recover the maximum amount possible. Three weeks later, on May 30, the SEC commissioners voted to recommend to the solicitor general that the government file in support of the plaintiffs. Mr. Cox has said it was important for the SEC to be consistent in its interpretation of the law and maintain the same position it had taken in an amicus brief filed in an earlier, unrelated case.

All interesting background.  In any event, whatever the results of any campaign by either side, it looks like the Supreme Court already had its mind made up and it wasn't on the side of shareholders.