Every year after Labor Day, I take a step back to survey the most important current trends and developments in the world of Directors’ and Officers’ liability and insurance. This year’s review is set out below. As the following discussion shows, this is a particularly interesting time in the world of D&O.
Continue Reading What to Watch Now in the World of D&O
In the following guest post, Sarah Abrams, Head of Claims Baleen Specialty, a division of Bowhead Specialty, takes a look at President Trump’s recent Executive Order designed to expand the investment options available in 401(k) and other defined-contribution retirement plans, and considers the Order’s potential implications for ERISA liability and insurance. I would like to thank Sarah for allowing me to publish her article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post contributions 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 Sarah’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Will I Ever Retire?
On August 20, 2025, in a ruling that will be of particular interest to insurance industry professionals, the Third Circuit reversed vacated a trial court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the defendants in the securities class action lawsuit pending against Bermuda reinsurer Maiden Holding, Ltd. The decision provides interesting insight into the application of the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in the Omnicare case, with particular reference to alleged omissions in connection with insurance company loss reserves. The Third Circuit’s August 20, 2025, opinion can be found here.
Continue Reading Insurer Loss Reserves and Securities Suit Omissions AllegationsIn the following guest post, Sarah Abrams, Head of Claims Baleen Specialty, a division of Bowhead Specialty, takes a look at recent changes in the DOJ’s Data Security Program (DSP) and discusses the D&O liability and insurance implications. I would like to thank Sarah for allowing me to publish her article as 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 Sarah’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Company Data Secure? The DOJ is Checking
What are the disclosure obligations of a publicly traded company when the CEO is ill? That is the question raised in a new securities class action lawsuit filed on August 22, 2025, against C3.ai, in which the plaintiffs allege that the defendants insufficiently disclosed the seriousness of and potential impact from the illness of
By now, you have undoubtedly heard the news that a divided New York intermediate appellate court has thrown out the massive damages award in the New York Attorney General’s civil fraud lawsuit against the Trump Organization and several of its current or former executives (including the President and two of his sons). However, at the same time, the appellate court also held that the trial court had correctly found the defendants liable and correctly awarded injunctive relief. This summary of the case is technically accurate, at least in a way. However, the reality is that what happened at the intermediate appellate court is also technically much more complicated than that. In any event, the appellate court’s rulings virtually ensure that the case will now go to New York’s highest court, the New York Court of Appeals.
Continue Reading N.Y. Court Affirms Trump Civil Fraud Ruling, Vacates Massive DamagesIn the following guest post, Sarah Abrams, Head of Claims Baleen Specialty, a division of Bowhead Specialty, takes a look at the recent dismissal of a securities class action lawsuit arising out of a failed merger, and considers the implications for the dismissal, particularly with respect to securities suits involving SPAC transactions. I would like to thank Sarah for allowing me to publish her 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 Sarah’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Standing, Scienter, and SPAC ExposureA new wave of AI-powered scams is targeting companies by impersonating their most trusted leaders – the CEO, the CFO, and other senior executives. Cybercriminals are now using generative AI tools to create hyper-realistic video and audio deepfakes of company executives to trick lower-level employees into handing over millions of dollars in cash, critical data, and other business assets. While these kinds of scams aren’t necessarily new, AI language and image models are making the scams increasingly effective and more prevalent, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article. The August 18, 2025, article, entitled “AI Drives Rise in CEO Impersonator Scams,” can be found here.
Continue Reading The Growing Threat of AI Deepfake AttacksThe cascade of consequences that followed in the aftermath of the recent Coldplay Concert scandal, in which Andy Byron, the CEO of Astronomy, was caught on Kiss-Cam embracing a woman not his wife (and who was at the time also an executive at the same company), represents a very high-profile example of the complications that can arise from the public conduct or misconduct of a company’s CEO. These problems are all magnified when the CEO involved is synonymous with the company they lead. In the following guest post, Sarah Abrams, Head of Claims Baleen Specialty, a division of Bowhead Specialty, takes a look at a recently filed securities class action lawsuit that followed in the wake of a company’s announcement that its CEO was departing after a conduct and ethics investigation. I would like to thank Sarah for allowing me to publish her 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 proposed guest post. Here is Sarah’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Illuminating
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) scores are meant to measure a company’s commitment to ethical practices and social contributions. CSR scores have their critics. Among other concerns, the scores are sometimes criticized for their lack of uniformity, their reliance on subjective or qualitative measures, and their lack of verifiability. A recent Wall Street Journal column criticizes CSR scores on yet another ground, which is, according to the author, that CSR scores may serve as a way for companies to mask financial fraud.
Continue Reading What Can Corporate Social Responsibility Scoring Tell Us About Financial Fraud?