When plaintiffs first filed their securities class action lawsuit against IndyMac Bancorp back in March 2007, the suit was one of the first of what later became a wave of subprime and credit crisis-related securities class action lawsuits. The suit itself, which has come to be known as the Tripp litigation, initially was dismissed and
D&O Insurance: Subsequent IndyMac Bank Claims Interrelated with Prior Suit, Precluding Coverage for Later Claims under Second Insurance Program
One of the perennial D&O insurance coverage questions is whether or not subsequent claims are “interrelated” with a prior claim and therefore deemed first made at the time of the prior claim. This question can be particularly critical when the subsequent claims arose during a successor policy period; the answer to the “interrelatedness” question can
Chancellor Leo Strine Addresses Stanford Directors’ College
Leading off the second day of the annual Stanford Directors’ College at Stanford Law School in Palo Alto, California was a keynote address from Delaware Chancellor Leo Strine. Strine is surprisingly outspoken and his presentation was lively and interesting.
The centerpiece of his presentation was a discussion of the lessons for directors based
Opening Day at the Stanford Directors’ College
The D&O Diary is on assignment this week at The Stanford Directors’ College at the Stanford Law School in Palo Alto, California. As always, the conference is well-attended (it is, in fact, sold out, as usual) and the agenda is full of timely topics and interesting speakers.
The conference began on Sunday evening with
Dismissal Denied in Goldman Sachs CDO Disclosure Securities Suit
In a harsh June 21, 2012 opinion (here), Southern District of New York Judge Paul A. Crotty rejected the motion to dismiss of Goldman Sachs and three individual defendants in the securities class action lawsuit pertaining to the infamous “built to fail” Abacus CDO transaction and other ill-fated deals. Judge Crotty did, however,
The Modest Early Settlements of Securities Suits Involving U.S.-Listed Chinese Companies
Beginning in 2010 and accelerating in 2011, plaintiffs’ lawyers filed a wave of securities class action lawsuits against U.S.-listed Chinese companies, many of which obtained their U.S. listings via reverse merger. These cases have been making their way through the courts, and some have now reached the settlement stage. The settlements seem to share more in
Interview with Professional Liability Insurance Industry Leader David Bell
Along with everyone else in the professional liability insurance industry , I was fascinated by the news that my good friend David Bell, with whom I served on the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS) Board of Trustees, was leaving Bernuda and his position at Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, to return to Montana, where he would
U.S. Supreme Court Decides Wage & Hour Case: Pharmaceutical Sales Personnel Not Entitled to Overtime Pay
On June 18, 2012, in an opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito for a 5-4 majority, the U.S. Supreme Court held that pharmaceutical sales representatives are not entitled to overtime pay. The question before the Court was whether or not the sales reps were employed “in the capacity as outside salesmen” and therefore within an exemption
Then and Now (Leaving Out Obvious Technology Differences)
Things That Were in my Childhood Home That Are Not in my Current Home: 
Whole milk
A popcorn popper
Waxed paper and Freezer Paper
Wooden tennis rackets
A Sears catalog
Pipe cleaners
Typewriter ribbon
A skate key
A coffee percolator
Green Stamps
Calamine lotion
Evening newspapers
A slide rule
Encyclopedia Britannica
Margarine
Camera film
Tough Week for Fee-Seeking and “Fast Filer” Plaintiffs’ Lawyers
Our legal system is one of our society’s crowning achievements. But for all of its grandeur, our legal system is not without its flaws. Among other things, our system encourages litigiousness that all too often involves frivolous suits and lawyers’-fee driven litigation, including the recent phenomenon of multi-jurisdiction derivative litigation driven by plaintiffs’ lawyers competing