Johnson Fistel Blog

This article is reprinted with permission from Esq. Wealth Management, Inc. Doing your own investing has never been easier. The tools are accessible, the fees are low, and the resources are endless. We’ve had clients come to EsqWealth after years of managing their own portfolios, often with modest results, until markets changed. While they were saving…

Elton v. Kramer, et al., Case No. C-15-CV-21-000496 (Md. Cir. Ct.-Montgomery Cnty.).  On August 7, 2025, The Hon. Deborah L. Boardman granted final approval of a shareholder derivative settlement which resolved claims brought on behalf of and for the benefit of Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (“Emergent” or the “Company”) by shareholders in several different jurisdictions.  Johnson…

In a 1995 speech, former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Arthur Levitt acknowledged that private securities fraud class actions help hold corporate America to account because the SEC simply cannot police every public company.  As he put it, “private rights of action are not only fundamental to the success of our…

This article is reprinted with permission from Esq. Wealth Management, Inc. Key Insights 1. “Annuities are just for people who didn’t save enough.” This is one of the most pervasive misconceptions—and it misses the mark entirely.Affluent investors often use annuities not because they need income, but because they want to stabilize risk, optimize taxes, and lock…

This article is reprinted with permission from Esq. Wealth Management, Inc. Since moving into Black Rock in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, golf has become more than a pastime for me. It has become a classroom. Time on the course has shown me that golf, financial planning, and investing share deep similarities. They require discipline, patience, and the…

In a significant development for retail and institutional investors alike, online real estate trading platform Opendoor has agreed to a $39 million settlement in response to a securities class action filed in 2022. Investors alleged that Opendoor misled the market by marketing its home pricing tool as a cutting-edge, AI-driven technology—when in reality, the company…

This article is reprinted with permission from Esq. Wealth Management, Inc. At EsqWealth, we’re constantly exploring strategic opportunities in sectors that may be on the verge of explosive growth. We believe one of those sectors is artificial intelligence (AI), and not just the headline-making applications like ChatGPT or autonomous cars, but also the real-world infrastructure that…

On September 2, 2025, Magistrate Judge Jolie A. Russo of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon appointed Johnson Fistel’s client, Diamond Head Capital International Fund, L.P., as Lead Plaintiff and designated Johnson Fistel as Lead Counsel for the putative class in Ullom v. Digimarc Corporation et al. Digimarc (NASDAQ: DMRC) is…