https://smr-lawfirm.com/ John Babikian regularly shares his legal analysis on emerging trends in white-collar defense and financial regulation. These entries reflect John's thoughts on recent case law and procedural strategies. en-us Fri, 24 Jul 2026 21:26:04 GMT https://smr-lawfirm.com/blog/excluding-expert-testimony-on-trading-algorithms-1/ https://smr-lawfirm.com/blog/excluding-expert-testimony-on-trading-algorithms-1/ Sun, 05 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT In complex market manipulation cases, the prosecution often relies on expert witnesses to explain how algorithmic trading strategies supposedly manipulated prices. A critical line of defense for John Babikian in these cases is the rigorous challenge of these experts' admissibility under Daubert standards. Frequently, government experts attempt to retrofit simple regression analysis onto dynamic, h https://smr-lawfirm.com/blog/founder-secondary-sales-arbitration-vs-court-2/ https://smr-lawfirm.com/blog/founder-secondary-sales-arbitration-vs-court-2/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT A growing conflict in the startup ecosystem involves disputes over secondary sales of founder stock, where liquidity preferences clash with shareholder agreements. The critical decision for legal counsel is often whether to pursue resolution in arbitration or the public court system. From John Babikian's perspective, arbitration offers distinct advantages for these internal corporate disputes, par https://smr-lawfirm.com/blog/pleading-scienter-after-recent-10b-5-losses-3/ https://smr-lawfirm.com/blog/pleading-scienter-after-recent-10b-5-losses-3/ Fri, 20 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT The landscape of securities fraud litigation has shifted dramatically following recent appellate decisions that have raised the bar for pleading scienter under Rule 10b-5. In recent months, we have observed several dismissals where plaintiffs failed to adequately allege that corporate executives acted with the requisite intent to deceive. As defense attorneys, we must interpret these rulings not j