By Jordan Eth, Joel Haims, Mark Foster, James Beha and Robert Cortez Webb ( July 6, 2017, 6:08 PM EDT) -- Recent years have seen significant growth in the number of Securities Act class actions filed in California state courts based on conflicting readings of the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act. On June 27, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a petition for a writ of certiorari in Cyan Inc. v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund to consider whether state courts have jurisdiction to hear Securities Act class actions under the SLUSA. While many federal courts have found that the SLUSA stripped state courts of jurisdiction over Securities Act class actions, others, most notably in the Ninth Circuit, have continued to find concurrent federal and state jurisdiction over Securities Act class actions. The result has been a rising tide of duplicative initial public offering (IPO) litigation in California state courts. The Supreme Court's decision in this case may put an end to this duplicative litigation, assuring corporate issuers and underwriters that they need only defend against Securities Act class actions in a single federal court, under federal pleading standards and procedural rules....