On the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week in Dura Pharmaceuticals v. Broudo in which the Court rejected the price inflation theory of causation in securities fraud cases, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision in Plotkin v. IP Axess late last week in which Judge Edith Jones lays out with specificity the precise pleading requirements for both the representations and scienter elements of a securities fraud claim. This is an excellent opinion to read before either preparing a fraud or securities fraud complaint or in preparing a motion to dismiss a complaint for not adequately pleading fraud or securities fraud. Hat tip to the Appellate Law & Practice blog for the link to this helpful opinion.