A shareholder initiates a private securities fraud lawsuit by filing a complaint in federal district court. As is the case in many types of civil lawsuits, the defendant, or the party whom the shareholder has accused of acting fraudulently, will typically file a motion to dismiss the complaint for a lack of facts sufficient to sustain the lawsuit. If the lawsuit survives a motion to dismiss, in that the court determines that the lawsuit has facts sufficient to go forward, then the two sides to the dispute engage in discovery proceedings, which can involve physical evidence, such as documents related to the securities transaction(s), and depositions, where witnesses and/or parties are personally questioned about the securities transaction(s). During this process, the plaintiff, or the shareholder bringing the action, typically files a motion to have the lawsuit certified as a class action lawsuit, in order to represent the interests of all involved shareholders that were financially damaged by the alleged securities fraud. If this motion is successful, the lawsuit becomes a class action lawsuit, which opens up the accused party or corporation to tremendous liability for its actions if the case were to go to trial and result in a verdict against it. As a practical matter, then, many successful securities fraud class action lawsuits result in large, multimillion dollar settlements in favor of the shareholders.