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Meeker suits dismissed
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October 9, 2001: 2:50 p.m. ET
A judge cites flaws in suits against the famed Morgan Stanley analyst.
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NEW YORK (CNNmoney) - Eight lawsuits against Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. star Internet analyst Mary Meeker were dismissed Tuesday by a federal judge who said they were riddled with flaws.
The class-action suits were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they cannot be re-filed, Morgan Stanley said. In August, U.S. District Judge Milton Pollack, who threw out the suits, gave the plaintiffs 30 days to fix flaws in their pleadings, but they chose not to do so, according to a statement on Morgan Stanley's Web site.
"We are gratified, but not surprised, by this decision," said Mayree Clark, Morgan Stanley's head of global research. "Our research is thorough and objective, and Mary Meeker's integrity is beyond reproach."
Meeker became known as "Queen of the Internet" for her bullish views on the sector. But as Internet stocks took a dive, she and rival analyst Henry Blodget of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (MER: up $1.71 to $41.77, Research, Estimates) became targets for disgruntled investors.
Blodget was named in an arbitration claim this year that Merrill eventually settled for $400,000.
In Meeker's case, Judge Pollack was outspoken when he dismissed the suits in August, saying they had "gross and unrestrained" flaws in their pleadings.
The plaintiffs in the cases "don't owe (Meeker) any of their profits, (yet) now they want her to take their losses," Pollack told Reuters in an interview on Aug. 22.
Morgan Stanley (MWD: up $1.50 to $49.26, Research, Estimates) shares rose in afternoon trading. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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