As regular readers know, I have for several years been tracking on this site the largest shareholder derivative lawsuit settlements. In the following guest post, Erin McGinn, Head of Financial Lines Claims, Vantage Risk, analyses and discusses the largest recent shareholder derivative lawsuit settlements and considers the settlements’ implications for Side-A D&O insurance. A version of this article was previously published on vantagerisk.com. I would like to thank Erin for allowing me to publish her article 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 Erin’s article.Continue Reading Guest Post: As Derivative Settlements Trend Higher, Side-A Coverage Becomes Crucial
derivative lawsuits
Massive $97 Billion Verdict Awarded Against Fukushima Utility Executives
In what is the largest case dispositions of its type that I have ever seen, a court in Tokyo has ordered four executives of Tokyo Electric Power Holdings (Tepco) to pay the company 13.321 trillion yen – the equivalent of $97 billion — based on the court’s finding that the individuals had negligently failed to take steps that would have prevented the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. This verdict, which is described in a July 13, 2022 Wall Street Journal article (here), is noteworthy on many levels, as discussed below.
Continue Reading Massive $97 Billion Verdict Awarded Against Fukushima Utility Executives
Guest Post: Can Shareholders Bring “Direct” Mismanagement Claims Against Directors of Maryland Corporations?
In this guest post, Joseph Collins, a partner at the DLA Piper law firm, examines the extent to which mismanagement claims can be brought directly against directors of a Maryland corporation, as opposed to derivatively. I would like to thank Joe for his willingness to publish his article on my site. I welcome guest …
Does D&O Insurance Cover Fee Awards to Derivative Plaintiffs?
A frequent component of derivative litigation resolution is an award to the plaintiffs of the fees and expenses the plaintiffs incurred in pursuing the suit. A contentious, recurring question is whether D&O insurance covers fee awards to derivative litigation plaintiffs. This issue received a through going over in a February 17, 2011 opinion from a…
The Top Ten D&O Stories of 2010
2010 was an eventful year in the world of D&O liability. Congress passed massive financial reform legislation, the Supreme Court issued landmark decisions in important cases and numerous claims emerged as the litigation landscape continued to evolve. With so much going on, it is a challenge to narrow the year’s events down to just the ten…
Pfizer’s D&O Insurers Fund Unusual $75 Million Derivative Settlement
In the wake of Pfizer’s record-setting September 2009 $2.3 billion settlement of charges that it had engaged in off-label marketing of Bextra and other drugs, Pfizer investors filed shareholders derivative lawsuits against the company, as nominal defendant, and 19 of the company’s directors and officer, alleging that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties by failing to…
UBS Will Take No Action Against Former Company Officials and Other Web Notes
In a public report that makes for some interesting reading, UBS on October 14, 2010 released a statement disclosing that though its own investigation had concluded that "what happened should not have been allowed to happen," the company will take no legal action against its former directors and offices for losses the company suffered during…
Options Backdating Settlement News: Apple and UnitedHealth
According to news reports (here), on September 8, 2008, Judge Jeremy Fogel of the Northern District of California preliminarily approved the settlement of the Apple options backdating derivative litigation.
As reflected in the parties’ Stipulation of Agreement of Settlement (here), the plaintiffs in the consolidated Apple derivative action agreed to…