Petition to Watch: Jones v. Harris Associates

As we reported in our November 12, 2008 entry, petitioners in Jones v. Harris Associates L.P. filed a petition for a writ of certiorari for Supreme Court review of the 7th Circuit's ruling . As you may recall, the petitioners, the plaintiffs in the underlying suit, are requesting that the Supreme Court review whether the Seventh Circuit erroneously rejected the Gartenberg factors and held that, unless the shareholder can show that the adviser misled the fund’s directors who approved the fee, a shareholder’s claim that the fund’s investment adviser charged an excessive fee is not actionable under Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act.

According to SCOTUSBLOG, a weblog written and operated by Akin Gump that tracks Supreme Court movements, review of the Jones case by the Court has a reasonably good chance of being granted at the Court's upcoming March 6 conference, given petitioners' argument that the 7th Circuit's ruling is in conflict with the decisions of three other circuits. Forum News Feed will keep an eye on the Court's proceedings and orders on March 6 and thereafter and will post an alert the should the Supreme Court make any announcements regarding the Jones case.

For those of you who enjoy legal prose, the relevant documents of the case record thus far are are linked below:

• Opinion below (7th Circuit)
• Petition for certiorari
• Brief in opposition
• Petitioner’s reply
• Brief amicus curiae of AARP and Consumer Federation of America (in support of petitioner)
• Brief amicus curiae of Law Professors (in support of petitioner)