Baxter Prevails Again in Securities Case

On February 4, 2009, the firm achieved another significant victory on behalf of Baxter International Inc., when the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois awarded summary judgment to defendants Baxter and its former CEO and CFO in the action Asher v. Baxter International Inc. After the firm successfully opposed the plaintiffs’ successive motions for class certification, the case was carried on by two remaining plaintiffs who alleged that the drop in the value of their Baxter shares was the result of securities fraud on the part of the remaining defendants — Baxter, its former CEO Harry Kraemer, and its former CFO Brian Anderson. In her opinion, Judge Manning held that plaintiffs had failed to establish that “defendants ignored relevant information when reaffirming and revising Baxter’s financial commitments.”