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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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In a milestone development in the long-running Dutch collective investor action brought against Petrobras and related entities, a Netherlands court has ruled on the merits in favor of the Foundation bringing the action on behalf of investors, holding that Petrobras harmed investors by publishing misleading financial information. Though the case is not done – the Court will next consider certain legal issues pertaining to the investors’ claimed damages – the Court’s recent ruling is an important step in this significant and high-profile case. An English translation of the Court’s July 26, 2023, judgment can be found here. The July 26, 2023, press release of the International Securities Association & Foundations Management Company, the administrator of the Foundation brining the action, which summarizes the rulings in the Court’s judgment, can be found here.Continue Reading Dutch Court Enters Interim Merits Judgment in Favor of Petrobras Investors

Earlier this week (here), I noted the securities class action lawsuit that a plaintiff shareholder filed against AT&T in the wake of the Wall Street Journal’s series of articles about the network of lead telephone cables in the U.S. Now, another plaintiff has initiated a separate but parallel lawsuit against Verizon. This latest lawsuit, which was filed by the same plaintiff law firm as filed the AT&T lawsuit, alleges that Verizon was aware of but failed to disclose to investors the risks and hazards the company faced owing to its ownership of the lead telephone cables. A copy of the August 1, 2023, complaint against Verizon can be found here.Continue Reading Verizon Hit with Lead Telephone Cable-Related Securities Suit

Many of you may have read the recent series of Wall Street Journal articles raising the alarm about the sprawling U.S. network of lead telephone cables. The articles suggest not only that the lead cables represent a health hazard to workers and to nearby residents, but that the telephone companies (including AT&T) allegedly have known about these hazards but have failed to take corrective measures. The revelations in the Journal series have led to governmental investigations. And now a plaintiff shareholder has filed a securities class action lawsuit against AT&T alleging that the company misled investors about the allegedly known but undisclosed risks the companies faced as a result of the lead telephone cable hazards. This new event-driven lawsuit shows that dangers that unacknowledged environmental and health hazards may represent for reporting companies. A copy of the July 27, 2023, complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Lead Telecom Cables Exposé Leads to Securities Suit Filing

The COVID-19-related public health crisis ended earlier this year; the CDC declared the end of the public health emergency in May. While the pandemic may be over, many of the changes that the pandemic wrought remain. Some of these changes resulted in significant alterations to the operating environment for many businesses. The difficulties that businesses face in trying to adapt to the new environment has, in turn, and at least for some businesses, translated into securities lawsuits. The latest example of this phenomenon is the lawsuit filed last week against clinical trial company Syneos, whose business operations were not only disrupted by the pandemic, but also changed in ways that caused ongoing disruption the company’s business and financial results. The lawsuit alleges that the company and its executives misrepresented both the company’s response to the pandemic and to the changed business circumstances the company faced due to the pandemic. A copy of the July 27, 2023, complaint filed against the company can be found here.Continue Reading Clinical Trials Company Hit with COVID-Related Securities Suit

On July 26, 2023, a divided SEC adopted, by a 3-2 vote, final rules for cybersecurity disclosures. The final rules are based on proposed rules the agency first introduced in March 2022. The rules require companies to disclose material cybersecurity incidents they experience, and also to disclose on an annual basis material information regarding their cybersecurity risk management and governance. The rules will have a significant impact on reporting companies’ disclosure practices and could present a challenge for some companies. A copy of the final cybersecurity disclosure rules can be found here. The SEC’s July 26, 2023, press release about the final cybersecurity disclosure rules can be found here. The SEC’s two-page fact sheet about the new rules can be found here.Continue Reading SEC Adopts Final Cybersecurity Disclosure Rules

I don’t know how many readers follow Lyle Roberts’s The 10b-5 Daily blog, but if you are not following it, you should. When Lyle posts a new item, it is always interesting. In his latest post, Lyle discusses a recent federal district court decision in which the court confronted the question whether a company’s description of a legal matter as “without merit” could be the basis of a misrepresentation claim under the federal securities laws. Because this is such an interesting question, and because companies routinely describe lawsuits to which they are subject as being “without merit,” I discuss the decision below.

Lyle’s July 25, 2023, post about the decision on The 10b-5 Daily blog can be found here. A copy of the District of Massachusetts court’s July 24, 2023, decision in City of Fort Lauderdale Police and Firefighters’ Retirement Systems v. Pegasystems, Inc. can be found here.Continue Reading Statement that Underlying Suit is “Without Merit” Held Actionable

The number of federal and state court securities class action lawsuits filed in the first six months of 2023 was up compared to the number of filings in the second half of 2022, but in line with the number of filings in the first half of 2022 as well as with the long-term half-year average number of filings, according to the latest report from Cornerstone Research. The report, written in conjunction with the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse, is entitled “Securities Class Action Filings: 2023 Midyear Assessment,” and can be found here. Cornerstone Research’s July 20, 2023, press release about the report can be found here.Continue Reading Cornerstone Research: 1H23 Securities Suit Filings Increased Relative to 2H22

Readers will recall that I recently posted about the new Nevada legislation requiring liability insurance policies issued in the state to provide for defense costs outside the limits – in other words, expressly requiring that liability insurers’ payment of defense costs will not erode the limit of liability. This new legislation caused a great deal of concern, both among insurers and insureds. On July 21, 2023, and in response to the concerns, the Nevada Department of Insurance, acting through the state’s Insurance Commissioner, adopted an Emergency Regulation to aid the implementation of the new statute. The Emergency Regulation itself, as well as the Insurance Commissioner’s July 20, 2023, letter to the Nevada Governor explaining the regulatory action, can be found here. In addition, the Department has also separately published Guidance to Insurers with respect to the Emergency Regulation, which can be found here.  Continue Reading Nevada Publishes Emergency Regulation for “Defense Outside the Limits” Bill

From the very beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, one related phenomena that immediately became apparent was the emergence of coronavirus-related securities class action lawsuits and other corporate and securities litigation. I have been tracking the COVID-related securities litigation since the very beginning, and now, even though we are now well into the pandemic’s fourth year, the COVID-related securities suits are continuing to be filed. In the latest example of a COVID-related securities suit filing, a plaintiff shareholder this week sued Danaher Corporation for the company’s disclosures related to the impact of the pandemic on the company’s sales. This latest filing suggests that the COVID-19-related securities litigation phenomenon may have further to go yet. A copy of the complaint in the new lawsuit against Danaher can be found here.Continue Reading Danaher Hit with COVID-Related Securities Suit Filing

In what is as far as I know the largest shareholder derivative lawsuit settlement ever as measured by dollar value, the defendant board members in the Tesla Board compensation derivative suit have agreed to settle the case for a combination of payments and transfers with a total value of $735 million. The agreement settles a Delaware Chancery Court lawsuit that a public pension fund shareholder filed against the board in June 2020 alleging that the since at least 2017 the board had received “unfair and excessive” compensation. The settlement is subject to court approval. A copy of the parties’ stipulation of settlement in the case, filed with the court on July 14, 2023, can be found here.Continue Reading Tesla Board Compensation Derivative Suit Settles for $735 Million