Most companies would not dare let a US securities class-action lawsuit go to trial. But JDS Uniphase took that gamble and on Tuesday it paid off. A federal jury held that the California fibre-optics manufacturer and four former executives did not mislead investors because they could not have foreseen that the 2001 dotcom collapse would result in gigantic losses.

Since the US reformed its securities class-action rules in 1995, most investor lawsuits have followed a familiar path. Judges toss out the weaker claims, and most of the others settle – often for vast sums. JDS Uniphase is only the 16th company to defend itself before a jury since 1996, according to research by RiskMetrics.