Every fall, I take a step back and survey the most important current trends and developments in the world of Directors’ and Officers’ liability and D&O insurance. This year’s survey is set out below. Once again, there are a myriad of things worth watching in the world of D&O.
How Will the Interrelatedness Issue
A recurring issue in the litigation the FDIC has filed against the directors and officers of failed banks is the question of whether or not officers – as opposed to directors – can rely on the business judgment rule as a defense under applicable state law. A July 8, 2013 decision by Judge Dean Pregerson applying
An important accessory to the indemnification rights of directors and officers is their right to have their defense expenses advanced while the claims against them are pending, before their ultimate right to indemnification has been determined. A frequently recurring issue is the question of when the company may withhold advancement. This issue often arises when
The bankruptcy context is particularly ripe for D&O claims, and it also represents a particularly difficult claims context for D&O insurers. Anyone with any doubts about just how complicated bankruptcy claims can be will want to take a look at the settlement that the various concerned parties recently reached in the bankruptcy of defunct Florida
Typically, the FDIC updates the professional liability lawsuits page about once a month, but on June 7, 2013, only about two weeks after its last update, the FDIC again updated the page to include new lawsuit information. According to the information in the latest update, the FDIC has now filed a total of 65
A year ago, President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, a legislative product of rare bipartisan collaboration that was intended to improve employment and make it easier for smaller firms to raise private equity. (For an overview of the Act’s provisions, refer here.) Twelve months later, many of the rules needed
In order to try to defend themselves from claims asserted against them by the FDIC as receiver for a failed bank, the failed bank’s directors and officers often raise affirmative defenses, either based on pre-receivership conduct (as for example, in connection with pre-failure examinations) or post-receivership conduct (as for example in connection with the agency’s
The past year included dramatic and important developments involving elections, tragedies and natural disasters. While there was nothing in the world of Directors and Officers Liability to match this drama, it was nevertheless an eventful year, with many significant developments. In the latest issue of InSIghts, which can be found here, I take
A shareholder of the holding company for a failed Virginia bank, the Bank of the Commonwealth, has filed a securities class action lawsuit in the Eastern District of Virginia against the holding company and certain of the company’s directors and officers. The lawsuit, filed on January 22, 2013, follows after the July 2012 indictment of
As the current wave of bank failure litigation has unfolded, the directors and officers of banking institutions rightly have become more concerned about the own potential liability exposures and interested in learning more about how they might be able to reduce their risks and exposures. In the following guest post, Joseph T. Lynyak III