In the latest round in the long-running battle over whether there is D&O insurance coverage for the amounts Bear Stearns paid in settlement of an SEC enforcement action for alleged market timing, the D&O insurers may have finally found an issue on which they may be allowed to try to dispute coverage. Even though, in
Professional Liability Insurance: Two Policies But No Coverage Due to Untimely Notice
In a January 9, 2015 opinion (here), the Eighth Circuit, applying Missouri law, held that there was no coverage under either of two successive professional liability insurance policies issued by the same insurer for a claim against its insured, LSi-Lowry Systems, because the claim was first made before the inception of the second
D&O Insurance: No Coverage for Enforcement Action Because Claim First Made When SEC Subpoena Served Before Policy Inception
A recurring D&O insurance coverage issue involves the question of whether or not a subpoena constitutes a claim, as I have noted on prior posts (for example, here). When this issue comes up, the dispute is usually over whether or not there is coverage under the policy for the costs of responding to the
D&O Insurance: Contract Exclusion Does Not Preclude Coverage for Intentional Misrepresentation Claim
A recurring D&O insurance question is whether or not a policy’s contract exclusion precludes coverage for claims that the insured induced the claimant into entering a contract through negligent or intentional misrepresentations. In a interesting December 22, 2014 opinion (here), District of Rhode Island Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., applying Rhode Island
Professional Liability Insurers Must Pay $30 Million Settlement of Restitutionary Overdraft Fee Claims
On December 16, 2014, in an interesting ruling that undoubtedly will stir up a great deal of debate, District of Minnesota Judge Paul Magnuson, applying Delaware law, granted U.S. Bancorp’s motion for summary judgment, holding that the bank’s professional liability insurers must pay $30 million of the $55 million the bank agreed to pay
D&O Insurance: Eleventh Circuit Holds Insured v. Insured Exclusion’s Applicability to FDIC Failed Bank Claims Ambiguous
Going all the way back to the S&L crisis, a recurring insurance coverage issue that has arisen in the failed bank context has been the question of whether or not coverage for a claim brought by the FDIC in its capacity as receiver of a failed bank against the failed bank’s former directors and officers
Guest Post: Unexpected Coverage: D&O Insurance and IP Litigation
An insurance coverage issue that frequently recurs is the question of coverage under a D&O insurance policy for intellectual property disputes. In the following guest post, Peter S. Selvin of the TroyGould law firm takes a look at several recent case decisions examining the question of coverage under a D&O insurance policy for IP claims.
D&O Insurance: Subsequent Lawsuit to Enforce Judgment Held Interrelated with Prior Adversary Action
The question of whether or not a subsequent claim is interrelated with a prior claim — and therefore deemed first made at the time the earlier claim was filed – is a recurring D&O insurance coverage issue. If the later claim is to be deemed first made at the time of the prior lawsuit, then
Q&A with PLUS1 Award Winner Aruno Rajaratnam
On Thursday November 6, 2014, at the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS) International Conference in Las Vegas, the PLUS1 Award will be conferred on my good friend, Aruno Rajaratnam. The PLUS1 Award is presented annually to a person “whose efforts have contributed substantially to the advancement and image of the professional liability industry.” I
D&O Insurance: Contractual Liability Exclusion Precludes Coverage for Negligent Misrepresentation Claims
In an October 20, 2014 opinion (here), Middle District of Florida Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr., applying Florida law, entered summary judgment for a D&O insurer, holding that the insurer was not liable for the stipulated judgment its insured had entered because the policy’s broad contractual liability exclusion precluded coverage for the underlying