The number of federal class-action securities fraud lawsuits has dropped to their lowest level since 1996, despite several high profile cases in recent months such as the suits involving the underwriters of Global Crossing and advisors to Enron.

According to a new report from Stanford University and the Boston-based consulting firm Cornerstone Research, only 61 class-action lawsuits seeking damages over falling stock prices were filed from January to the end of June. The survey predicts that 123 lawsuits will be filed for the whole year, a 31% drop from the 179 filings last year and the fewest number of lawsuit filings since 111 were filed in 1996.