The D&O Diary was on assignment last week in Napa Valley in California. Although I have visited Napa several times in the past, it has been a while since I have been there. I had forgotten what a beautiful place it is and how much fun it is to visit.
My primary purpose
In the following guest post, Ed Whitworth, the Head of Financial Lines at Inigo, and Yera Patel, Chief Legal officer and Head of Financial Lines Claims for Inigo, summarize the results of a recent survey Inigo conducted of U.S. securities litigation defense counsel. The original of the survey summary previously was published on Inigo’s blog, here. I would like to thank Ed, Yera, and Inigo for allowing me to publish the report summary on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to the blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is the authors’ article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Inigo’s 2024 Defense Counsel Survey
Here at The D&O Diary, our job is to watch for emerging trends in corporate and securities litigation. There is plenty to watch. Because we are always so attentive to what is new, it sometimes surprises us when a development appears that reflects an old or even seemingly played-out trend. That was our reaction to seeing the new COVID-related complaint filed this week against the health Insurer Humana, in which the plaintiff alleges that the company misled investors about the company’s rising costs associated with increased patient utilization rates due to post-pandemic pent-up demand. It is, in fact, a little surprising that even now, more than four years after the coronavirus first emerged in the U.S., COVID-related lawsuits are still being filed. A copy of the Humana complaint can be found here.
Continue Reading Health Insurer Hit with COVID-Related Securities Suit
In several posts (most recently here), I have tried to assess the continuing risks associated with what has been called The Banking Crisis of 2023. In my view, the risks continue, including in particular with respect to banks’ exposure to commercial real estate market. A May 28, 2024, paper by an economist at
In numerous posts over the years (most recently here), I have noted that qui tam actions under the False Claims Act fit awkwardly with the typical D&O Insurance policy terms and conditions. Many of the related coverage problems arise from the fact that applicable procedures require a qui tam claimant to file his or
In recent months, much of the discussion of ESG issues has focused on the impact of the ESG backlash. However, the predominance of the backlash movement in the current ESG discussion does not mean that interest in addressing ESG-related concerns has disappeared; in certain circles at least, ESG concerns remain on the agenda. The most interesting recent development along these lines is the May 9, 2024, issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) by the Michigan Department of Attorney General, in which the Department has solicited attorneys to act as Special Assistant Attorneys General (SAAG) to pursue climate change-related lawsuits against fossil fuel companies and others. The Department’s notice is reminder that for all of the noise surrounding the ESG backlash, the threat of ESG-related litigation is continuing.
Continue Reading Michigan AG Solicits Attorney Help for Climate Change Litigation
There is no doubt that, as I have previously noted on this site, the conversation about ESG has changed over time, particularly as ESG has faced a political backlash. These changes not only concern ESG itself but each of its three constituent pillars – and while ESG discussions frequently focus on the “E” pillar, and in particular on climate change, the changes in the ESG conversation also concern the “S” pillar as well. Of the recent changes surrounding the Social component of ESG, arguably none is more important that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College, in which the Court ruled that race-based policies should not be used in university admissions. In a May 23, 2024, Law360 article entitled “The State of Play in DEI and ESG One Year After Harvard Ruling” (here), attorneys from the Crowell & Moring law firm review the ways that the Supreme Court’s decision in the Harvard case have changed the dialog surrounding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and ESG.
Continue Reading ESG, DEI, and the Supreme Court’s College Admissions Decision
One of the procedural innovations the PSLRA introduced was the requirement that plaintiffs’ counsel who file a securities class action lawsuit complaint must issue a press release announcing the complaint’s filing and notifying prospective class members of the opportunity to seek to become lead plaintiff. Plaintiffs’ lawyers quickly realized the potential publicity value for them
Long-time readers may recall that just a short time ago there was growing concern that New York’s courts might be becoming a preferred forum for aggrieved investors to pursue liability claims against non-U.S. companies’ executives, based on the companies’ home country laws. However, in early 2022, just as the alarm bells began to sound, New York courts issued a series of rulings dismissing various cases of this kind, suggesting that the furor might have been overblown. But even following these events, concern remained that New York’s courts might still prove to be available in at least certain circumstances for claims under home country law against non-U.S. companies and their executives.
A recent decision from a New York trial court, in which the court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss a breach of fiduciary duty claim brought under Cayman law against former officers and directors of a Cayman company, confirms that, under some circumstances at least, New York courts may be an available forum for litigants to pursue these kinds of claims involving non-U.S. companies. The fact that the Court accepted the case, and the considerations that proved to be relevant to the court, are both instructive.
Continue Reading NY Court Keeps Cayman Law D&O Suit Involving a Cayman Company
The resolution of many securities class action lawsuits would benefit from an economic assessment early in the case process. In the following guest post, Assen Koev argues in favor of a standardization of the initial economic assessment analysis as a way to provide the parties and concerned insurers with a clearer picture of the securities lawsuit at an earlier point in the case. Assen is an economic consultant and founder of SCA iPortal. A version of this article previously was published on Law360. I would like to thank Assen for allowing 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 Assen’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Standardizing Early Case Appraisal in Securities Class Actions