On July 1, 1999, Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware against WIT Capital, on behalf of all customers who did business with WIT Capital (an online internet stock broker and investment banking firm) in order to make trades of Initial Public Offerings (IPO's) through the Internet on a first-come/first-served basis before May 20, 1999.

WIT Capital is an online stock broker and investment banking firm. According to its Internet home page, the company's mission was "... to be the premier Internet investment banking firm focused on the offering and selling of securities through the Internet to a community of online individual investors." The services offered by the firm were supposed to permit investors to "... have access to investment opportunities that Wall Street has long denied to individuals such as Initial Public Offerings, investment research, venture capital and institutional-style electronic trading."

The Complaint alleges WIT Capital engaged in breach of contract and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing by failing to maintain adequate computer communications, personnel, accounting, and bookkeeping, to provide, among other things, IPO allocation on a first-come/first-served basis; timely execution of orders; access to IPO's.

The Complaint further alleges that WIT Capital misrepresented and failed to inform that it would not adhere to its first-come/first-served policies and that it could not handle the capacity of trades.

If you wish to read the current Complaint please click the Complaint link.

Plaintiffs moved for class certification. During calendar year 2000, the parties engaged in discovery on plaintiffs' motion for class certification. On January 10, 2001, the Superior Court for the State of Delaware denied plaintiffs' motion for class certification. Plaintiffs have filed a notice of appeal. The appeal has not yet been adjudicated. On March 18, 2002, the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware denied defendants' Motion for Reargument of the decision, which reversed the lower trial court. Thereby, the complaint has been sustained.

If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Fred T. Isquith, Esq., George Peters, Esq., or Derek Behnke at Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP, 270 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016, by telephone at (800) 575-0735.