In order to assign responsibility in connection with the enforcement of public welfare objectives, courts have developed the "responsible corporate officer doctrine," which in recent years has been applied with increasing frequency in environmental enforcement. A California appellate court recently applied the doctrine to enforce civil liability on the officers of a family run business.
First SDNY Subprime Securities Lawsuit Dismissal
On January 12, 2009, in the first dismissal motion ruling among the many subprime and credit crisis-related securities lawsuits pending in the Southern District of New York, Judge Shira Scheindlin granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss in the Centerline Holding Company securities case, with leave to amend. A copy of the opinion can be found here
Credit Crisis, Madoff Litigation Waves Roll On
We are barely into the New Year, but all signs are that two of the critical securities litigation trends of 2008 – the subprime/credit crisis related litigation wave and the Madoff-related litigation wave – remain significant factors and apparently will continue to drive new lawsuit filings as we head into 2009, as the recent lawsuit
Madoff-Related Insurance Losses: How Big?
Investors whose fortunes were tied to Bernard Madoff and his firm have already been counting (and mourning) their losses. But for the insurers that provided coverage for financial firms targeted in the Madoff-related litigation, the losses have only just begun to accumulate.
How high the insurance losses ultimately may run remains to be seen
Updates: Section 11 Jurisdiction and More
Seventh Circuit Weighs In on State Court ’33 Act Jurisdiction and Removal: A January 5, 2009 Seventh Circuit decision in the Katz v. Gerardi case (here) may make it more difficult for plaintiffs to pursue ’33 Act litigation in state court, at least in the Seventh Circuit — and possibly elsewhere, too.
What About Satyam’s D&O Insurance?
As the details about the Satyam Computer Services scandal have emerged and the U.S. securities lawsuits have begun to flood in, questions have also arisen about Satyam’s D&O insurance. At least some of the questions are answered in a January 8, 2009 article in The Economic Times (India’s largest financial daily) entitled "Satyam Scam Triggers
FCPA Year-End Update
I encourage those that questioned my inclusion of FCPA issues in my list of top ten 2008 development to refer to the January 5, 2009 memo from the Gibson Dunn law firm entitled "2008 Year-End FCPA Update" (here).
As the memo puts it, 2008 was ‘by any measure …a monster year in
The Top Ten Blog Posts of 2008
Because of the dramatic events in the financial and credit markets, 2008 will undoubtedly go down in history as a dark and difficult year. 2008 was a challenging year for bloggers, too. So much happened of such significance that trying to find the time to comment and the words to express it all were almost overwhelming blogging
Fresh Scandal for a New Year: The “Indian Enron”
2009 has barely just begun but the year’s first corporate scandal, which has quickly been dubbed the "Indian Enron," has already arrived. Your radar might not have picked this one up yet, but you may want to take a quick look at today’s news involving Indian information technology company Satyam Computer Services, Ltd.
Trend Lines Cross on First-Filed 2009 Securities Lawsuit
In recent posts discussing year-end trends, my observations included predictions that credit crisis related lawsuits would continue in 2009 and that increased levels of bank failures could lead to further "dead bank" litigation. As it turns out, 2009’s first-filed securities class action lawsuit appears to reflect both of these projected trends.
According to the