A recent coverage dispute involving a Nevada club’s losses resulting from its employees’ theft from the club’s customers’ credit cards raises interesting issues with implications for coverage questions for other kinds of losses for which policyholders are seeking crime policy coverage. In the recent Nevada club credit card fraud case, District of Nevada Judge Andrew Gordon held that the club’s crime policy did not cover the club’s losses from the employees’ theft of funds from the customers’ credit card accounts because the losses did not result directly from the employees’ theft. Judge Gordon’s August 6, 2018 opinion can be found here. An August 7, 2018 post on the Wiley Rein law firm’s Executive Summary Blog about Judge Gordon’s opinion can be found here.    Continue Reading Crime Policy Doesn’t Cover Employee Credit Card Overcharge Losses

For some time, I have been arguing that climate change-related disclosure is going to be an increasingly hot button issue. Among other things, I have long believed that advocacy groups will attempt to use disclosure-related issues as a way to try to draw attention to climate change policies. On August 2, 2018, in the latest example of advocacy groups focusing on climate change-related disclosures, the non-profit legal group Client Earth filed complaints with the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) against three different U.K. insurers. The legal group contends that the insurers’ annual reports failed to meet the requirements of the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules due to the absence in the reports of any climate change-related disclosures. Continue Reading Three U.K. Insurers Hit with Complaints Over Alleged Climate Change-Related Disclosure Omissions

Perhaps because of my many years in the D&O insurance business, I am frequently approached by younger insurance agency and insurance brokerage professionals who are thinking about trying to concentrate on D&O insurance as product specialty. I generally encourage this idea, as I think that D&O insurance is an interesting industry space that still provides a lot of worthwhile opportunities. But the younger professionals who approach me are looking for more than just a few words of encouragement. They are also looking for advice and information. They are not always sure what in particular they are looking for when they approach me, but I know after many of these conversations one thing they usually need – that is, they need to know what to talk about when they talk about D&O. Continue Reading What to Talk About When You Talk About D&O Insurance

The insurer on the receiving end of the recent Sixth Circuit ruling that the a payment instruction fraud loss is covered under the Computer Fraud section of a Commercial Crime policy has filed a petition for rehearing or rehearing en banc. In its July 27, 2018 petition (here), the insurer contends that in its decision, the Sixth Circuit’s analysis was at odds with its own prior precedent, and as a result the appellate court applied the wrong causation analysis in determining whether or not the fraudulent email “directly” caused the loss of the policyholder, American Tooling Center (ATC). Continue Reading Insurer Seeks Rehearing of Ruling That Payment Instruction Fraud is Covered

A coverage defense that insurers frequently raise is the assertion that the amount for which the insurance payment is sought represents uninsurable disgorgement. Beyond the more general question of whether or not disgorgements are or are not insurable is the more specific question of whether or not the amount for which coverage sought represents disgorgement. In an interesting July 30, 2018 opinion in a case involving the investment firm TIAA-CREF, the Delaware Supreme Court, applying New York law, rejected the firm’s insurer’s argument that the amount the firm paid in settlement of three underlying class action lawsuits represented uninsurable disgorgement. The Court expressly distinguished a series of three decisions in which New York courts had ruled that settlement amounts paid in settlement of regulatory enforcement actions represented uninsurable disgorgement. The Delaware Supreme Court’s July 30, 2018 order can be found here. Continue Reading Del. Supreme Court Holds Settlement Amounts Not Uninsurable Disgorgement

On July 13, 2018, the Amsterdam Court of Appeals finally approved the €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) settlement of a series of shareholder claims against Fortis in the wake of the global financial crisis. The settlement, which had first been announced in March 2016 by Ageas, Fortis’s successor in interest, faced a number of judicial objections and concerns, resulting in changes to the settlement as originally proposed. According to a July 27, 2018 Law 360 article by Jonathan Richman of the Proskauer law firm and Ianika Tzankova of Tilburg University (here), the court’s recent approval “again shows” that the Dutch settlement procedure “remains a viable settlement vehicle for companies wishing to resolve transnational problems on a classwide, opt-out basis.” On the other hand, claimants’ attorneys have questioned whether the court’s rulings on class distribution and attorneys’ fees could discourage institutional investors from seeking to use the Dutch settlement procedures. Continue Reading Dutch Court Declares Largest-Ever European Investor Claims Settlement Binding

It was perhaps inevitable after Facebook’s disappointing quarterly earnings announcement last week triggered what reportedly is the largest single day share price drop ever that securities class action lawsuits against the company would follow. And indeed on Friday at least two securities class action lawsuits were filed against the company. While the lawsuit filings may have been predictable, at least one of the lawsuits contains an interesting and unexpected variant on the standard pattern –  one of the two lawsuits contains allegations that the company made misrepresentations about its readiness for the May 2018 effective date of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and about the impact of GDPR compliance on the company’s business and operations. As discussed below, these allegations reflect the growing liability exposures arising from growing privacy-related concerns and regulation.   Continue Reading Massive Facebook Stock Drop Draws GDPR-Related Securities Suit

 For any organization experiencing a data breach, the organization’s response to the incident remains one of the most important and yet one of the most challenging next steps. In the following guest post, Paul Ferrillo, a partner in the New York office of the Greenberg Traurig law firm, examines the ways that an organization can respond well to a cyber incident. I would like to thank Paul for his willingness to allow me to publish his article as a guest post on my 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 Paul’s article. Continue Reading Guest Post: The Speed of Breaches and Other Bad News in Cybersecurity Incident Response

Securities class action lawsuits were filed at “near record levels” in the first six months of 2018, according to a July 25, 2018 report from Cornerstone Research. According to the report, which is entitled “Securities Class Action Filings – 2018 Midyear Assessment,” more than 750 federal securities class actions have been filed since mid-2016, the highest number of filings in a 24-month period since the passage of the PSLRA. The report can be found here. Cornerstone Research’s July 25, 2018 press release can be found here. My report of the securities suit filings in the year’s first six months can be found here. Continue Reading Cornerstone Research: Securities Suit Filings at Near Record Level in Year’s First Half

As is well known, civil litigation in the U.S. can be expensive, time-consuming and burdensome. Despite these obvious drawbacks, countless insurance disputes wind up in litigation, imposing costs and burdens on policyholders, claimants, and insurers. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms – such as arbitration, mediation, settlement conferences, and appraisal – allow the parties to insurance disputes to avoid the expense and burdens of trying to address a dispute in court. A new book published by the American Bar Association entitled “Resolving Insurance Claims Disputes Before Trial” (here) seeks to provide a practical guide to the ADR mechanisms. As discussed below, this book provides valuable guidance for attorneys, claims adjusters, and others involved in the insurance claim process. Continue Reading Book Review: A Guide to Using ADR to Resolve Insurance Claims Disputes