As I have noted in prior posts (most recently here), an important concern these days for insurance industry observers and commentators is “silent cyber” — that is, the coverage for cyber-related losses under traditional property and casualty insurance policies, as opposed to purpose-built cyber insurance policies. For example, in one recent case (discussed here), a court found coverage for cyber losses under a business owner’s policy. While the possibility for finding cyber coverage under several other types of coverage is frequently discussed, one line of coverage that is not frequently considered is fiduciary liability coverage. However, a recent lawsuit, in which a corporate benefits plan participant lost funds to a cyber thief, suggests a way in which a cyber loss potentially could trigger a fiduciary liability policy.
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Shareholder Files State Court Class Action Over COVID-19 Impact on Planned Merger
In what is the latest variant of coronavirus-Related D&O claims, a plaintiff shareholder has filed class action lawsuit in Delaware State Court against the board of media technology Xperi with respect to the company’s planned merger with TiVo Corporation. Among other things, the plaintiff alleges that the defendant board members breached their fiduciary duties by failing to provide investors with adequate disclosures about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the deal and failing to reassess the deal in view of the fact that the pandemic represents a “Material Adverse Event” under the merger agreement. A copy of the plaintiff’s May 15, 2020 complaint can be found here. Alison Frankel’s May 18, 2020 post about the lawsuit on her On the Case blog can be found here.
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Guest Post: Section 11 Cases in State Court Post-Cyan – Is the Tide Turning?
In March 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held in Cyan that state courts retain concurrent jurisdiction for liability actions under the Securities Act of 1933. As a result, defendants could face the prospect of parallel litigation in both federal and state court, with no means of consolidating the proceedings. In the following guest post, Bruce G. Vanyo, Richard H. Zelichov, Michael J. Lohnes, and Jonathan Rotenberg, all of the Katten law firm, take a look at Cyan’s impact and review some recent positive developments that address some of the concerns Cyan has led to. I would like to thank the authors for allowing me to publish their article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is the authors’ article.
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Securities Litigation Loss Prevention in the Midst of a Pandemic
Companies navigating the current heath crisis and dealing with its financial effects face a number of risks. Among the many risks is the possibility of business litigation. For publicly traded companies, the litigation risks include the possibility of securities class action litigation. Even in the midst of a pandemic, the steps companies can take to try to mitigate their securities class action litigation remain the same – manage disclosures, control insider trading, and handle bad news appropriately, among other things – but the coronavirus outbreak has added new dimensions to these steps. Well-advised companies will be making the appropriate adjustments, and, as discussed below, D&O insurance underwriters will be (or perhaps, should be) monitoring companies closely to see which companies are making the adjustments.
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Add this Previously Filed Suit to the List of Coronavirus-Related Securities Lawsuits
Here at The D&O Diary, we watch securities class action litigation filings closely in order to try to identify trends as they emerge. Recently, we have been watching in particular for coronavirus-related securities litigation filings, and reporting on new filings on this blog. However, it appears that despite all of our vigilance, a coronavirus-related securities class action lawsuit filed last month escaped our notice. This previously overlooked lawsuit is described below. As noted in the discussion section, this case may actually represent a significant example of at least one type of coronavirus-related securities suit that we may see more of in the months ahead.
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SEC Files Two More COVID 19-Related Enforcement Actions
As I have been monitoring coronavirus-related D&O claims activity in recent weeks, one area I have been watching in particular is the filing of SEC enforcement actions based on pandemic-related allegations. As I noted at the time it was filed, there has already been one coronavirus-related SEC action filed. Now, on May 14, 2020, the SEC has filed two more coronavirus-related enforcement actions, and its press release accompanying the filings the agency stated that it is “actively monitoring the markets to detect potential fraudsters” who are trying to exploit the current health emergency in order to reap gains by misleading investors. The SEC’s May 14, 2020 press release about its filing of the two actions can be found here.
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Guest Post: Scienter “Takes a Seat” Front Row Center in New SDNY Case
In the following guest post, Tim Hoeffner and Paul Ferrillo of the McDermott Will & Emery law firm take a look at Southern District of New York Judge Ronnie Abrams’s April 2, 2020 order granting the defendants’ motion to dismiss in the Adient PLC Securities Litigation. I would like to thank Tim and Paul for allowing me the opportunity to publish their article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Tim and Paul’s article.
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PLUS Perspectives on Coronavirus Outbreak: Latest D&O Focus Update
As part of a continuing series, I have been participating in sessions that the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS) has organized addressing the potential D&O liability and insurance issues arising out of the COVID-19 outbreak. I have been joined in these recorded sessions by my good friends Carl Metzger of the Goodwin Procter law firm
Coronavirus and D&O Insurance: The Latest Interim Update
In early March, when I first wrote about the possibility of coronavirus-related D&O claims, there were then a total of 43 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and six deaths. In early April, when I published my first interim update to my initial post, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. had grown to 267,436 and the number of deaths was over 10,400. Now, a month later, the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. has exceeded 1.2 million and the number of deaths is over 78,000. By now it is apparent that the coronavirus-outbreak represents the most significant public health crisis in the U.S. in more than a century. The disease has also had a massive impact on the economy, both within the U.S. and globally, in ways that are only now starting to be fully appreciated.
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Will a Wave of Workplace Lawsuits Follow the Return to Work?
As local coronavirus pandemic-related stay-at-home orders expire or are withdrawn over the coming weeks, employees will be returning to the workplace. According to a recent blog post, a “wave of workplace class actions” could follow in connection with the return to work. In an April 26, 2020 blog post on the Workplace Class Action Blog entitled “The Coming Surge of Workplace Class Actions in the Wake of COVID-19” (here), Gerald Maatman and Jennifer Riley of the Seyfarth Shaw law firm predict a surge of workplace lawsuits “in several key areas such as discrimination and workplace bias, wage & hour, as well as on the health & safety front.”
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