The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statute, which applies to securities class actions filed after December 22, 1995, sought to reduce abusive litigation practices by plaintiff lawyers, creates a defensive “safeharbor” for forward-looking statements, and seeks to encourage early dismissal by courts of meritless lawsuits by standardizing the pleading requirements and staying discovery until after a ruling on a motion to dismiss. Initial experiences since enactment of the legislation ironically suggests that the frequency and severity of federal securities class action lawsuits have increased under the PSLRA.