Sydney Smith AKA MedPundit points to an interesting story on a massive class action suit against “309 companies — many of them high-tech start-ups that had high-flying IPOs during the bubble” — seeking damages from them after their stock prices fell.

Like many average IPO investors, Gallagher is hazy on exactly what iBeam or its investment bank was alleged to have done wrong. But he feels he deserves a cut of the settlement anyway.
“I feel I deserve it because, well, I’m not certain why,” Gallagher said sheepishly. “Nobody talked me into it, that’s for sure. The opportunity was there, and I decided to go for it.”

Let’s stipulate that there was lots of easy money flying around in the late nineties. How are lawsuits brought by trial lawyers on behalf of people who are “not certain why” they deserve awards helpful to anyone at this point? Rep. Chris Cox has done terrific work trying to help curb these kinds of suits, but there’s still a long way to go.