If the number of out of office messages sent back when I sent out new blog post email notifications during August are any indication, many readers have been away for some or all of the past few weeks. I hope you saved the little paper umbrella from the fruity drink that you and your spouse
Trial on D&O Insurance Coverage for Allen Stanford’s Attorneys’ Fees Begins
The question of insurance coverage for the attorneys’ fees of Allen Stanford and his co-defendants is at issue in a three-day bench trial before Southern District of Texas Judge Nancy Atlas that began on Tuesday, August 23, 2010 in Houston.
Stanford and several other individuals have been criminally charged with financial fraud in
Executive Protection: D&O Insurance – The Policyholder’s Obligations
In prior posts published as part of a continuing series, I have been exploring the basics of D&O insurance. In this third post in the series, I continue the discussion of the nuts and bolts of D&O insurance with a discussion of the policyholder’s policy obligations and requirements.
When most people think of insurance
Lehman Bankruptcy, Defense Expenses, and D&O Insurance
The September 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers resulted in the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history, as well as an explosion of litigation and regulatory actions and investigations. In the pending bankruptcy proceedings a recent motion by the debtor’s counsel details the massive legal costs accumulating in the various legal proceedings and also raises
Guest Post: Actual and Potential Conflicts in D&O Coverage Placement and Claims
Executive Protection: D&O Insurance – The Insuring Agreement
In a prior post, I published the first in what I intend to be an occasional series of articles on the nuts and bolts of Directors’ and Officers’ Liability Insurance. I continue the series here with the second post in the series. In this post, I take a look at the most basic component
Executive Protection: Indemnification and D&O Insurance – The Basics
My primary objective on this blog is to address important developments in with world of directors’ and officers’ liability as they occur. From time to time, however, readers contact me with more fundamental questions about executive liability and protection, particularly regarding the basics of indemnification and D&O insurance. In response to these recurring questions, I
Second Circuit Holds D&O Policy “Ambiguous”
In a June 30, 2010 opinion (here), a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit reversed the lower court’s ruling that coverage under a directors and officers liability insurance policy for an underlying claim was precluded by the policy’s "insured vs. insured" exclusion, holding that the D&O policy at issue was "ambiguous" under Virginia
More About Excess D&O Insurance and the Exhaustion Trigger
One of the recurring D&O insurance coverage issues is the question of excess D&O insurers’ obligations when the underlying insurers have paid less than their full policy limits as a result of a compromise between the underlying insurers and the policyholder.
In the latest of a growing line of recent cases examining these issues
Sarbanes-Oxley Act Clawbacks and D&O Insurance
The SEC has made it clear that it intends to use Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to "clawback" compensation from CEOs and CFOs of companies that restate their financial statements, even if the individuals are not alleged to have engaged in any wrongdoing. A recent district court opinion confirms that the statute gives the