The trial in the JDS Uniphase securities litigation (previously discussed here) has reportedly entered its final week.  As discussed in this Mercury News blog post, the trial—the rarest of occurrences in securities class actions–is reaching its conclusion and a jury verdict is expected sometime after Thanksgiving. 

The article notes that JDS’ latest Form 10-Q discloses (see page 6) that

Plaintiffs have stated in recent court filings that they intend to seek a verdict of more than $20 billion in alleged damages. Plaintiffs’ expert witness on damages has generally testified to that effect in the pending jury trial. While there are many potential outcomes of the pending trial, in the event of a final, non-appealable and enforceable judgment against the Company that is in an amount commensurate with the Plaintiffs’ maximum theory of damages, it would not have sufficient assets to pay such a judgment.

An actual trial–the rarest of occurrences in the securities class action world (see this post at Securities Litigation Watch for the latest, albeit dated, tally of such trials)–kicked off Tuesday in federal court in California. The Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds is lead plaintiff in the case against JDS Uniphase Corp. and four of its executives. As discussed in this Reuters article, the lawsuit alleges that defendants “lost $18 billion for investors by painting a rosy picture of the company’s finances when its stock was about to collapse.”

Labaton Sucharow’s Barbara Hart, lead counsel for the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, reportedly began her opening statement yesterday. JDS Uniphase, which is represented by Morrison & Foerster, is scheduled to present its opening statement today.