Apple could face lawsuits over Jobs' health

"It is extremely difficult because it is the most private part of his life," Steve Williams, a plaintiffs attorney for Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy, said. "At the same time, Apple is Steve Jobs."

Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner Joseph Grundfest said Apple crossed no line if it failed to provide thorough disclosures about Jobs' health unless company insiders traded on the knowledge before it was disclosed publicly.

No securities rules and no legal precedents directly address CEO health but Grundfest acknowledged that investors could argue that Jobs' status as CEO was critical to their decision to invest in Apple.

"I never underestimate the cleverness of plaintiffs attorneys but I personally am aware of no theory that would support a filing of a case," Grundfest said.

Williams said, however, that Apple may have "minimized" Jobs' illness in the same way that pharmaceutical companies sometimes fail to promptly and thoroughly disclose how drugs are faring in government trials -- a frequent lawsuit target.

"If the company misled me by giving me the impression that (Jobs) was going to continue to lead the company, that could be an actionable statement," Williams said.

But a defense attorney said investors probably would need a "smoking gun" to overcome the company's likely defense that Jobs' medical condition was constantly evolving.

"In the absence of some memo from a doctor that contradicts what he is saying, I would think it would be problematic for a plaintiffs (to sue for disclosure lapses)," said the attorney, who asked not to be named because his firm is litigating with Apple. "It is not the same as looking at a piece of financial information at the end of the month." (Reporting by Gina Keating and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; editing by Richard Chang)