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Kevin LaCroix

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Kevin M. LaCroix is an attorney and Executive Vice President, RT ProExec, a division of RT Specialty. RT ProExec is an insurance intermediary focused exclusively on management liability issues.

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Securities class action litigation observers know that securities suits frequently are accompanied by shareholder derivative lawsuits based on the same essential allegations. A recent report from Cornerstone Research, entitled “Parallel Derivative Action Settlement Outcomes: 2023 Review and Analysis,” takes a look at the settlement patterns for these kinds of parallel derivative suits. As the report shows, in recent years, nearly half of all securities class action lawsuits have been accompanied by a derivative lawsuit, and the securities suits with accompanying derivative suits typically are associated with higher settlements. The Cornerstone Research report can be found here. Hat Tip to the August 26, 2024 Cooley law firm memo about the report, here.Continue Reading Parallel Derivative Suits Associated with Higher Securities Suit Settlements

In recent months, many companies have found themselves under fire from conservative advocates for their stances on ESG-related issues. At the same time, other companies have found themselves facing litigation based on allegations that they have overstated their green credentials (a set of allegations sometimes called “greenwashing”). As two recent cases show, companies can face challenges and potential liability over their sustainability claims.Continue Reading Beverage Companies Face Scrutiny Over Their Green Claims

Sometimes seemingly subtle policy wording differences can significantly affect the court’s analysis of key policy clauses. The significance of the wording subtleties sometimes is best seen by comparing the wording to equivalent provisions in different policies. That was the case in recent proceedings in which an excess insurer sought to compel arbitration of an underlying coverage dispute. As discussed below, the court found that the language of the specific arbitration provision in dispute did not apply either to the parties or the dispute involved in the underlying coverage lawsuit. The ruling, in which the court applied New York law, can be found here.Continue Reading Insurer Cannot Compel Arbitration in Reliance on Narrow Arb Clause Wording

Richard M. Leisner

In the following guest post, Richard M. Leisner takes a look at recent case law developments in Texas that underscore the key role of expert testimony as well as problems that can arise with expert witnesses. The article also provides important examples of the importance of the proper deployment of expert witness testimony. Leisner is a Senior Member in the Trenam law firm in Tampa. I would like to thank Richie for allowing me to publish his article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this site’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Richie’s article.Continue Reading Guest Post: Avoiding Expert Witness Disasters

In my recent round-up of the top trends in the world of directors’ and officers’ insurance and liability, I noted that, even though we are now well into the fifth year since the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S., COVID-related securities suits continue to be filed. In the latest example of this kind of lawsuit, last week a plaintiff investor filed a securities class action lawsuit against customer contact data firm ZoomInfo Technologies, alleging that after COVID-related demand inflated the company’s results during the pandemic, the company allegedly strained to conceal subsequent declining demand from investors. A copy of the September 4, 2024, complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Customer Contact Data Company Hit with COVID-Related Securities Suit

SEC officials have for months been signaling their concerns about companies overstating their AI credentials, a phenomenon that the officials and others have called “AI washing.” As set out and partially transcribed in a September 5, 2024, TheCorporateCounsel.net post (here), SEC Chair Gary Gensler recently recorded a video in which he reiterated concerns about public company AI-related disclosures and the need for companies to match AI-related claims to their actual capabilities. Nor are concerns about companies’ AI-related disclosures limited to the SEC; the tech community is also concerned about companies that overhype their AI qualifications, as illustrated in a September 4, 2024 TechBrew post (here).  

Another audience is also monitoring public companies’ AI-related disclosures – the class action plaintiffs’ lawyers. The number of securities class action lawsuits based on allegedly misleading statements concerning AI continues to grow. In the latest example, on September 4, 2024, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities suit against software development platform GitLab alleging that the company misled investors by overstating the company’s ability to develop AI software features that would increase market demand for the company’s software development platform. A copy of the complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Software Development Platform Hit with AI-Related Securities Suit

Jim Peterson

Notwithstanding the prevalent ESG backlash in the U.S., companies still face pressure, from a variety of sources, to present and substantiate their sustainability credentials. One question with respect to sustainability from the accounting perspective is who will provide assurance for sustainability information and under what conditions? In the following guest post, Jim Peterson examines these issues about assurance for sustainability reports. Jim is an American lawyer and a 19-year veteran of the in-house legal group of Arthur Andersen. His international practice concentrates on the accounting profession’s practice quality, regulatory issues, and litigation and disputes. He is also the author of the Re: Balance blog. I would like to thank Jim for allowing me to publish his article on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this site’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Jim’s article.Continue Reading Guest Post: Assurance for Sustainability Reports – Risk Management Wants a Word

In a post last week, I wrote about the recurring question of who is an “officer” for purposes of determining qualification for advancement, indemnification, and insurance benefits. I received several comments about the post, including a note from Keith Paul Bishop of the Allen Matkins law firm, who writes the California Corporate & Securities Law blog. Bishop wrote to send me links to two of his blog posts, in which he explored the California and Delaware statutory provisions relevant to the question of, as he put it, “what makes an officer an officer?” His blog posts provide interesting additional perspective on this question.Continue Reading More About Who is an “Officer”

Individuals serving as corporate officers take on significant potential liability exposures in the performance of their duties. As a result, most companies provide their officers with advancement, indemnification, and insurance protection for liabilities incurred while acting as corporate officers. However, it is not always clear who is an “officer” for purposes of claiming the benefits…