Sur-Reply Required

The Fifth Circuit reversed because of a new trial-court reply-brief argument in Georgia Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Anadarko Petroleum Corp., reasoning:

A class of stock purchasers allege that Anadarko Petroleum Corporation fraudulently misrepresented the potential value of its Shenandoah oil field project in the Gulf of Mexico, in violation of federal securities law. During the class certification proceedings below, Plaintiffs presented new evidence for the first time in a reply brief. As a result, Anadarko did not have fair opportunity to address that new evidence at an earlier stage in the briefing. So the district court should have permitted Anadarko to file a sur-reply responding to that new evidence contained in Plaintiffs’ reply.

No. 23-20424 (April 24, 2024).