FT.com – So the class-action lawyers haven’t gone away after all. After several years of decline, the number of US lawsuits filed on behalf of angry investors jumped by 43 per cent in 2007, according to statistics compiled by Stanford University’s Securities Class Action Clearinghouse. Much of the spike appears linked to the subprime lending crisis – 32 of the 166 fraud complaints directly mention the issue, and financial services companies were the most targeted sector. This is hardly surprising. In the US, reports of potential scandals are a sure way of attracting the litigation sharks. …