It was my pleasure last week to attend the annual PLUS Conference, this year held in San Diego. It was great to be back at a live PLUS event again and to see so many colleagues from around the industry. As always, the PLUS staff did an amazing job organizing the event, and the turnout was great as well. It was also great to be back in San Diego. It was a little bit cool and it rained on Tuesday but despite that San Diego was still beautiful. It was great to see many old friends and to make new friends as well. Continue Reading PLUS Conference in San Diego
One litigation trend that I have been following on this site since the initial coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. in March 2020 is the incidence of COVID-19-related securities class action litigation. Even though the outbreak is now well into its third year, these coronavirus-related cases continue to be filed. In the latest example of this phenomenon, on November 8, 2022, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities class action lawsuit against Eiger Biopharmaceuticals in connection with the company’s efforts to develop a COVID-19 treatment. A copy of the plaintiff’s complaint in the case can be found 
As I noted in recent posts (for example, 
The hot button topic in both the investing world and the D&O insurance world these days is “ESG.” Setting aside the fundamental problem that 
On October 26, 2022, the SEC adopted final rules implementing the Dodd-Frank Act’s requirement for issuers to recover from current and former executives compensation that was erroneously paid due to an accounting restatement. The final rules require securities exchanges to adopt listing standards that will require listed companies to implement and disclose policies requiring the erroneously paid compensation to be recovered, on a “no fault” basis – that is, without regard to whether any misconduct occurred or whether an executive bears responsibility. The SEC’s Release covers a broad range of topics, including — importantly for readers of this blog — considerations relating to indemnification or insurance for the clawed-back compensation. The SEC’s October 26, 2022 press release about the new rules can be found 
One of the more noteworthy developments in recent years has been the increasing frequency of collective investor actions outside the U.S. In certain instances, these cases have resulted in settlements that rival the largest U.S. securities class action lawsuit settlements in size. The largest of the settlements outside the U.S. are compiled in an October 31, 2022 report from ISS Securities Class Action Services entitled “The Top 25 Non-North American Settlements: Largest Securities-Related Settlements Outside of North America of All-Time.” The report, which updates ISS SCAS’s earlier research and was written by Jeff Lubitz, Managing Director, ISS Securities Class Action Services, and Jarett Sena, Director of Litigation Analysis, ISS Securities Class Action Services, can be found 
In the current difficult business environment, many businesses face a broad array of daunting business challenges, including economic inflation, rising interest rates, supply chain and labor supply disruptions, the continuing threat of COVID-19 shutdowns, and the war in Ukraine. These various circumstances not only represent potential operational hurdles they may also involve increased litigation risk as well – as I have noted on previous posts (for example, 
In numerous prior posts I have examined efforts by plaintiffs’ attorneys to try to impose civil liability on corporate executives in D&O claims following cyber security incidents. Two recent cases show that, in addition to potential civil litigation liability exposure, corporate executives may also face potential regulatory liability and even criminal liability exposure for cyber security incidents at their company. The two recent cases are discussed in an October 27, 2022 memo from the White and Case law firm, 
As I have previously noted (most recently