"Dirty tricks" allegedly by hedge funds were no treat for Fairfield Financial – nor was the lawsuit the Canadian firm filed against the hedgies, but it does seem to have done the trick of getting the likes of SAC Capital and Exis Capital off its case, or so the insurer claims. According to Financial Times, in the four months since the Canadian insurance company filed a 95-page complaint against those two hedge funds among others, the company says its share price has surged 36% and all the so-called “dirty tricks” that Fairfield claims -- which included false analyst reports criticizing the company and allegedly threatening letters to top officials and their family -- have disappeared. Suddenly, it seems the corporate world has discovered an effective weapon for battling bothersome hedge funds that companies claim are doing their utmost to drive down share prices. “What we have come to learn in doing our investigation and since we filed the suits is that this is a pervasive problem in the markets,” Fairfax attorney Marc Kasowitz told FT, noting his company has received a flood of phone calls from corporate executives eager to learn how to make the legal magic work for them. Given the number of companies being investigated for market manipulation, says Kasowitz, it was “logical to expect” that there would be more lawsuits on the horizon. FT says the hedge funds named deny all allegations and are contesting a civil suit filed in New Jersey. They also would not comment on the claimed cessation of what the companies consider errant behavior since the lawsuit was filed in July.