The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a former commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a cadre of law professors are among the amici who’ve thrown support behind Volkswagen’s request for Ninth Circuit guidance on a key reliance standard in securities fraud claims.

Two amicus briefs filed Monday underscore apparent industry concerns about a California federal judge’s application of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1972 Affiliated Ute decision — which established that securities fraud claims can survive based on a presumption of reliance on a company’s omission — in preserving putative class claims that Volkswagen AG tricked investors into buying overpriced bonds by hiding its emissions defeat devices.

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The law professors and former SEC officials are represented by Gideon A. Schor of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC and Joseph A. Grundfest of Stanford Law School.