Hylla
Tillery
Madison County Circuit Judge David Hylla has rejected a class action that Stephen Tillery of St. Louis filed against mutual fund Janus Investment in 2003.
Hylla ruled on July 22 that Tillery client Robert Potter could pursue an individual claim against Janus but not a class action.
Hylla gave Potter 21 days to amend his complaint.
Potter sued Janus Investment in 2003, claiming the timing of its trades benefited some investors at the expense of others.
Tillery filed four other market timing suits against mutual funds in Madison County.
Three cases wound up before Circuit Judge Barbara Crowder, who certified questions to the Fifth District appeals court in Mount Vernon.
Hylla delayed decision on Potter's case while the Fifth District reached a decision.
This January, in Kircher v. Putnam Funds, Fifth District judges ruled that federal securities law precluded a state court class action.
Crowder dismissed Kircher, but Tillery moved to file new complaints in all cases.
Crowder has not ruled on new complaints, but Hylla has.
He granted a motion from Janus to dismiss Potter's claim, finding that an amended complaint didn't cure the defects in the Kircher case.
"This court has reviewed the holding of the Fifth District in Kircher and rules that Kircher requires dismissal of all pending class actions asserted by the plaintiffs in this case," he wrote.
Three cases against Putnam mutual funds remain pending in Crowder's court.
On Aug. 3, Putnam International Equity Fund and Putnam Investment Management notified Crowder that Hylla dismissed the Janus case.
One of Tillery's Madison County cases wound up in multi district proceedings at federal court in Maryland.