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
Guest Post: Actual and Potential Conflicts in D&O Coverage Placement and Claims
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
Bankruptcy and D&O Insurance
According to statistics compiled by the American Bankruptcy Institute, over 60,000 businesses filed for bankruptcy in 2009, the highest annual number of business-related bankruptcies since 1993. By way of comparison, the 2009 business bankruptcy filing levels were nearly 200% greater than in 2006. All signs are that these bankruptcy filing levels have continued unabated
Second Circuit Affirms Excess D&O Insurers’ Coverage Denial Based on Prior Knowledge Exclusion
In a March 23, 2010 Summary Order (here), the Second Circuit affirmed the March 2, 2009 ruling of Southern District of New York Judge Gerald Lynch, in which he held that the excess insurers’ prior knowledge exclusion precluded coverage under their policies for claims brought against former Refco directors and officers.
Two Appellate Courts Consider D&O Insurers’ Obligation to Advance Defense Expenses
Within the space of just a few days, two federal appellate courts – the Fifth and Sixth Circuits – issued separate opinions consider D&O insurers’ obligations to advance defense expenses. The Fifth Circuit entered its March 15, 2010 decision in the high-profile Stanford Financial insurance coverage dispute. The Sixth Circuit’s March 11, 2010 opinion was