Law360, New York ( November 3, 2011, 4:56 PM EDT) -- For years, plaintiffs' attorneys have relied on the "group pleading doctrine" to satisfy the "who, what and why" of a securities fraud claim against individual officers and directors of public companies. The judicially created doctrine enables securities fraud plaintiffs to ascribe certain corporate statements, such as prospectuses, annual reports, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, and earnings releases to corporate executives involved in their preparation, even where there is no identifiable attribution. Underlying the "group pleading doctrine" is the presumption that corporate statements are the product of those running the company and, thus, it is fair to attribute any liability arising from those statements to the executives responsible for their preparation and dissemination....