One of the highest profile D&O insurance coverage decisions last year was the district court’s October 2010 opinion holding that Office Depot’s D&O insurance policy does not cover defense expenses the company incurred in responding to an informal SEC investigation. The company’s appeal of the district court’s decision has been closely watched. On October 13
Excess D&O Insurers Not Required to Drop Down to Fund Insolvent Underlying Insurer Gaps
In a case involving multiple ghosts of long lost companies, a judge in federal court in Manhattan has held that excess D&O insurers do not have a duty to “drop down” to fill the gaps in coverage caused by the insolvency of underlying insurers. The court also held, based on the language of the excess
D&O Insurance: Coverage for SafeNet Options Backdating Securities Suit Settlement Denied
The options backdating scandal may now be ancient history, but questions surrounding insurance coverage for the scandal’s consequences apparently continue to live on. In a September 9, 2011 opinion applying Maryland law, Southern District of New York Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald ruled in a coverage action brought by SafeNet’s excess D&O insurer that, among many
Guest Post: Will the SEC’s Cooperation Initiatives Increase Defense Costs and Spur Battles with Carriers Over Separate Counsel?
I am pleased to present below a guest post by Kara Altenbaumer-Price, Esq., the Director of Complex Claims and Consulting for USI and part of its Management & Professional Services Group in Dallas. I would like to thank Kara for her willingness to publish her article on this site. I am interested in publishing
Failed Bank Battles: Is D&O Insurance Coverage the Real Frontline?
A recent negotiated resolution of an FDIC failed bank lawsuit suggests disputes over D&O insurance coverage may represent the real frontline in the failed bank litigation wars. The compromise was reached in the lawsuit the FDIC only recently filed in the District of Arizona involving the failed First National Bank of Nevada. As discussed below
Fights Worth Watching: Lehman Execs Spar over D&O Insurance, SEC Pursues Chinese Co. Auditor
A group of former executives of a Lehman Brothers subsidiary is seeking to block the bid by senior Lehman executives to use $90 million of the remaining D&O insurance proceeds to settle the cases pending against them. As discussed here, on August 24, 2011, the senior executives filed a motion with the Lehman bankruptcy
What to Watch Now in the World of D&O
Every fall since I first started writing this blog, I have assembled a list of the current hot topics in the world of directors’ and officers’ liability. This year’s list is set out below. As should be obvious, there is a lot going on right now in the world of D&O, with further changes just
D&O Insurance Coverage in the Wake of the IndyMac Bank Failure
In an opinion that provides an interesting glimpse of a complex D&O insurance program, on August 24, 2011, Central District of California Judge R. Gary Klausner granted the motions to dismiss of the insurance company defendants in an action that had been brought by a subsidiary of IndyMac bank, which was trying to establish its
Guest Post: Dodd Frank, Corporate Investigations and D&O Insurance
One of the hottest current topics in the field of D&O insurance is the question of coverage for costs incurred in connection with regulatory investigations. As discussed in the following guest post from Paul Ferrillo, who is Of Counsel and a senior litigator in the Securities Litigation/Corporate Governance Group of Weil Gotshal & Manges,
Guest Post: Claims Against China-Based Reverse Merger Companies: A Tempest in a Teapot of Gunpowder Green Tea?
As numerous commentators have noted, one of the most distinctive litigation developments over the last twelve months has been the emergence of U.S. securities litigation against Chinese companies that obtained their listings on U.S. exchanges that a “reverse merger” with a publicly traded U.S. shell company.
Given the prominence of these issues, I