The prognosticating over the future of securities class action cases continues unabated with the newest info coming in the Cornerstone Research annual securities review for 2005. No one disputes that this area litigation on the whole perhaps isn't quite as hopping as it once was. As for '05, while numbers of filings appear to have decreased, recent settlements are some of the largest ever. So what matrices are the most important measures for what growth? Number of actions filed? Numbers of shareholders involved? The sheer dollars awarded? The profile-level of the companies involved? All seem relevant to determining how "hot" the area is and how busy plaintiff attorneys will be in the coming years. Well the short answer, according to Cornerstone , is that there's more that a little life left in the old girl. Check out their full report here.

-- MDT