Dabit's significance lies in what could have happened had the justices ruled against Merrill Lynch, said securities litigator John Bielema of Atlanta's Powell Goldstein. "It could have opened the floodgates to a whole new breed of lawsuits," he said.

"Every time you had a traditional purchaser and seller class action, there would have been a tag-along suit by holders. Those would have proliferated, and that would have been a bad thing for corporate America. Dabit is important because it nips in the bud what started as a trend among the plaintiffs' bar to start a new category of claims."

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