John Reed Stark

As I noted in a post at the time, on February 20, 2018, the SEC issued its guidance for cybersecurity-related disclosures. In the following guest post, John Reed Stark, President of John Reed Stark Consulting and former Chief of the SEC’s Office of Internet Enforcement, has pulled together of list of 12 takeaways for corporate officials from the SEC’s guidance. I would like to thank John for his willingness to allow me 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 blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is John’s article. Continue Reading Guest Post: A Dozen C-Suite Takeaways from the 2018 SEC Cyber-Disclosure Guidance

The insurance coverage litigation arising from the settlement of the shareholder claims filed in connection with the Dole Food Company’s November 2013 “going private” transaction continues to grind on. In the latest development in the coverage dispute, a Delaware Superior Court judge has entered a number of interesting rulings, deciding among other things that an underlying determination that an insured committed fraud does not make the claim uninsurable as a matter of Delaware law. Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis’s March 1, 2018 opinion in the Dole Foods coverage litigation can be found here.   Continue Reading Insurance for Fraudulent Misconduct Does Not Violate Delaware Public Policy

In a recent insurance coverage lawsuit arising out of an underlying dispute over who was responsible for the lapse of a key man life insurance policy, a court determined that coverage for the attorneys’ fees a management consulting firm incurred in defending against the underlying claim was precluded by the failure to maintain insurance exclusion in the consulting firm’s professional liability insurance policy. Because coverage disputes involving a failure to maintain insurance exclusion are relatively rare, the court’s decision provides an opportunity to consider the exclusion and how it might affect the availability of coverage in certain claims situations. Continue Reading Failure to Maintain Insurance Exclusion Precludes Coverage for Defense Costs Incurred in a Lapsed Life Insurance Dispute

The newly disclosed $80 million settlement of the Yahoo data breach-related securities class action lawsuit will not make the list of the Top 100 securities suit settlements, but it is significant in its own way just the same. Because the settlement is the first substantial data breach-related shareholder lawsuit recovery, it represents a milestone development in a number of respects, as discussed below. The parties’ March 2, 2018 Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement can be found here. Continue Reading Yahoo Settles Data Breach-Related Securities Suit for $80 million

In an unusual and potentially significant move, the U.S. Department of Justice has named as one of the defendants in a False Claims Act lawsuit a private equity firm whose portfolio company the DOJ alleges engaged in an illegal health care-related kickback scheme. As the Jones Day law firm noted in a February 27, 2018 client memo about the DOJ’s action, the inclusion of a PE firm as a defendant in this lawsuit “may indicate a sea change in terms of who the DOJ is willing to pursue in False Claims Act changes” and “could signal the DOJ’s willingness to seek to pierce the corporate veil and hold private equity sponsors accountable for the noncompliance of their portfolio companies in the health care industry.” The DOJ’s February 23, 2018 press release about the lawsuit can be found here. The DOJ’s complaint in intervention in the lawsuit can be found here. Continue Reading DOJ Targets Private Equity Firm for Portfolio Company’s Alleged Improper Kickbacks

Prior observers have already noted that in 2017 the value of securities class action lawsuit settlements plunged to lows not seen in years, largely due to from a shortage of large or even moderate settlements. These observations about the lack of larger settlement are underscored by the latest large securities suit settlement report from ISS Securities Class Action Services (ISS). In its annual report, entitled “The Top 100 U.S. Class Action Settlements of All Time (as of December 31, 2017)” (here), ISS reports that only two securities class action lawsuit settlements approved during 2017 were large enough to make the Top 100 list. The report has a number of other interesting observations about securities suit settlements as well. Continue Reading ISS Releases Updated Top 100 U.S. Securities Suit Settlements List

In a January 23, 2018 unpublished decision (here), the Eleventh Circuit held that a D&O insurance policy’s prior acts exclusion does not preclude coverage where the subsequent claim against insured persons is “independent” from the alleged wrongful acts that occurred prior to the policy period. The appellate court’s opinion, in which it affirmed a district court’s ruling rejecting a D&O insurer’s argument that the exclusion precluded coverage for the FDIC’s claim against the former directors and officers of a failed bank, underscores the necessity for a link between the prior wrongful acts and the subsequent claim in order for the exclusion to preclude coverage for the claim. The Carlton Fields law firm’s February 26, 2018 memo about the decision can be found here. Continue Reading Prior Acts Exclusion Does Not Preclude Coverage Where Subsequent Claim Independent from Alleged Prior Acts

SEC Commission Michael Piwowar caused quite a stir last summer when he suggested that the SEC would favorably view submissions by IPO companies that included bylaw provisions requiring mandatory arbitration of securities claims. The idea of mandatory arbitration for shareholder claims has continued to circulate in the intervening months. In the past few days, several current and former SEC Commissioners and SEC representatives have weighed in on the issue, mostly to pour cold water on the idea. Because I believe this idea will continue to percolate, I survey the latest statements below. Even though the most recent statements strongly suggest a lack of support for the idea in many circles, I suspect we will continue to hear more about this issue. Continue Reading The Latest on Proposed Mandatory Arbitration of Shareholder Claims

The publication of the annual letter of Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway’s legendary Chairman, to the company’s shareholders is a much-anticipated event. Investors and observers value the letter for its comments about investing, the economy, and Buffet’s own outlook for the future, as well as for his occasional doses of humor and worldly wisdom. The 2017 letter, published on the company’s website on Saturday morning, does not disappoint. This year’s version has much to justify a full reading. The letter also has a long real-life parable for the benefit of ordinary investors hoping to maximize their investment gains. The February 24, 2018 letter can be found here. Full disclosure: I own BRK-B shares, although not nearly as many as I wish I did. Continue Reading A Closer Look at Warren Buffett’s Latest Letter to Berkshire Shareholders

David M. Furbush
David M. Lisi

As I noted in a post last week, on February 21, the SEC released a statement and guideance for reporting companies with respect to Cybersecurity Disclosure. In light of the statements in the SEC’s new guidance about the responsibility of corporate directors regarding cybersecurity disclosure, David M. Furbush and David M. Lisi of the Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman law firm have updated their prior guest post on the topic of what corporate directors need to know about cybersecurity. I would like to thank David and David for submitting this update. 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 David and David’s update. Continue Reading Guest Post: SEC Guidance Affirms Need for Board Oversight of Cybersecurity Risks