On May 24, 2021, the shares purchasers' requests were approved by the Honorable Deputy Marriage Attorney (as he was then called) Judge H. Kabub. It was determined that the report dated September 8, 2013 included a misleading detail and presented a preliminary evidentiary basis for the existence of a cause of action under the Securities Law, as well as for the tort other than the tort of fraud, as well as the cause of action by virtue of section 253 of the Companies Law (hereinafter: the Approval Decision in the Applications of the Stock Purchasers). For the sake of completeness, I will note that subsequently these proceedings were discussed before me, and on December 16, 2024, a judgment was issued in their case in which a settlement reached by the parties was approved.
- As stated, the plaintiff purchased the company's shares after the report dated September 8, 2013, and hence he is a member of the class for which the share buyers' request was filed. However, on June 28, 2020, the plaintiff filed a personal lawsuit and announced that he wished to exclude himself from the class action filed in his case and to be assisted by Adv. Halfon in filing a personal claim against the defendants (paragraph 6 of the statement of claim). This was after his expectation that his group would join the suit from the exercisers of the options was disappointed when the lawyers who won the suit (Adv. Halfon) were "suddenly fired", and according to him, the lawyers who replaced them were negligent in their duties (paragraphs 2 and 3 of the statement of claim). It was argued that the plaintiff had lost his trust in the attorneys who were chosen to manage the motion for approval in place of Adv. Halfon, and that the purpose of filing the additional class action was to deprive his attorney of his attorney's rights to legal fees. Therefore, as stated, the plaintiff removed himself from the group and chose to manage his personal claim.
- The Course of the Proceeding
- On June 28, 2020, the plaintiff filed his claim with the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court. In response, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the claim in limine and alternatively to transfer the hearing thereof to the Economic Department of this court. On January 12, 2021, the Magistrate's Court (the Honorable Judge G. Heiman) ordered that the claim be transferred to the Economic Department of this court.
When the lawsuit was transferred, the defendants sought to delay the proceedings on the grounds that it was filed after the motions to certify a class action on behalf of the shareholders were filed, the hearing of which has not yet been concluded. The plaintiff objected to the request.