litigation trends

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In our recent round-up of the top D&O stories so far this year, one of the top developments in 2026 we noted is the growing amount of AI-related D&O litigation. The AI-related litigation trend has continued to develop, as new AI-related lawsuits continue to be filed. In recent days, plaintiffs’ lawyers have filed two further AI-related securities class action lawsuits, first, against the Chinese Internet company Baidu, and, separately, against the AI-powered Internet advertising firm AppLovin. Both new lawsuits are based on AI-washing type allegations. The new lawsuit against Baidu also reflects the surging levels of securities litigation this year involving Chinese companies, as discussed further below.

Continue Reading AI-Related Securities Suit Filings Continue to Surge

The D&O Diary has been following the evolving litigation and management liability issues arising from the Trump Administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs, the subsequent judicial decisions invalidating those tariffs, and the wave of refund litigation that has followed. As these developments have unfolded, tariff-related litigation has expanded beyond refund actions and shareholder claims to include consumer lawsuits alleging that companies improperly passed tariff costs on to customers.

One recent example is the litigation filed against Levi Strauss & Co. (Levi’s) in California and Louisiana. The allegations against Levi’s reflect the continued filing of tariff-related claims at a time when the scope and applicability of U.S. tariffs remain in flux. Although the tariffs imposed under IEEPA were invalidated by the Supreme Court, other tariffs and tariff-related trade measures remain in effect, including recent U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports and Canada’s corresponding countermeasures. These continuing trade actions demonstrate how rapidly changing tariff policies can create significant challenges for corporate governance, disclosure practices, and risk management.

Continue Reading Tariffs and the Continuing Wave of “Double Recovery” Consumer Class Actions

In the following guest post, Chris Mosley and John Orr discuss the findings from the 2026 North America edition of the Global Directors’ and Officers’ Survey, developed by Willis, a WTW business, in collaboration with Reed Smith LLP. As the survey results show, cyber risk remains the leading concern for directors and officers in North…

 

As we have noted on this site, the increasing number of AI-related corporate and securities lawsuit filings is one of the most important recent developments in the world of D&O liability and insurance. Among the AI lawsuits is a particular category of claims involving allegations against AI infrastructure companies. By way of example, last week, two AI infrastructure companies were hit with securities suits alleging that the companies overstated their business opportunities  arising from providing infrastructure to support the burgeoning AI  build-out. As discussed further below, these AI infrastructure lawsuits represent their own category of AI-related suit filings.

Continue Reading AI Infrastructure Companies Hit with Securities Suits     

Over the past year, market-manipulation lawsuits have become a growing feature of the securities litigation landscape, with plaintiffs targeting alleged spoofing, short-selling, pump-and-dump schemes, and other trading-related misconduct. The latest such case, filed on July 31, 2026, in the Middle District of Florida, names hedge fund Pentwater Capital Management and its founder, Matthew Halbower, as defendants (Pentwater SCA). The complaint alleges that they manipulated the market for Avis Budget Group (Avis) shares by orchestrating a short squeeze and then selling into the resulting price spike.

Unlike pump-and-dump securities suits premised on allegedly false or misleading statements, the Pentwater SCA is based on the defendants’ trading activity itself. The lawsuit arguably represents an example of a growing trend in market-manipulation-related securities class action litigation while underscoring an increasingly important issue for D&O underwriters: securities litigation risk arising not from disclosure deficiencies, but from market-structure and trading-related factors capable of driving extreme stock-price volatility.

A copy of the Pentwater SCA can be found here.

Continue Reading Short Squeeze Lawsuit Filed Against Pentwater Capital

The securities class action lawsuit filed against Intuit, Inc. on August 17, 2026, represents another notable development in one of the most significant securities litigation trends of the year. According to our count, the Intuit case is the 20th AI-related securities class action filed in 2026, underscoring the continued evolution of AI-related litigation beyond traditional allegations of AI-washing and overstated artificial intelligence capabilities.

Similar to the securities class action filed against ZoomInfo Technologies on July 13, 2026, the complaint against Intuit alleges that, while the company promoted the benefits of artificial intelligence, it failed to disclose the extent to which AI was simultaneously creating competitive pressures for key parts of its business.

A copy of the complaint filed against Intuit can be found here.

Continue Reading Intuit Hit with AI-Related Securities Suit

For many years, cybersecurity-related issues have been recognized as a potential source of D&O claims and liability. More recently, other D&O claims concerns, including artificial intelligence (AI), geopolitical issues, and even market manipulation allegations, have become more conspicuous, and cybersecurity-related issues have been less prominent. However, a securities suit filed earlier this month against Israeli-based web data collection company Alarum Technologies highlights that cybersecurity-related issues remain an important potential source of D&O claims and also shows how cybersecurity-related concerns continue to evolve. A copy of the August 5, 2026, complaint against Alarum can be found here.

Continue Reading Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities Lead to Securities Suit Against Israeli Company

The wave of securities class actions alleging market manipulation involving recently public, low-float companies continues to grow. Notably, many of these lawsuits have involved non-U.S. companies that recently completed IPOs on U.S. exchanges. Two new pump-and-dump lawsuits, filed within a day of one another in the Southern District of New York against China-based iTonic Holdings Ltd. and Park Ha Biological Technology Co., Ltd., increase the number of market manipulation cases filed in 2026 to 13.

Continue Reading Pump-and-Dump Securities Suit Filing Trend Continues to Build

As The D&O Diary has emphasized in numerous posts in recent months (most recently here), geopolitical issues represent an increasing source of D&O risk. The geopolitical issues include, among other things, sanctions, tariffs, and export controls. Another geopolitical issue that can have an impact on D&O risk is the enforcement of anti-money laundering (AML) laws. In the latest example of AML enforcement translating into D&O risk, in late July a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities class action lawsuit against British money transfer technology company Wise Group, a company whose U.S. bank charter application was denied due to AML concerns. A copy of the July 31, 2026, complaint can be found here.

Continue Reading Anti-Money Laundering Enforcement and Securities Litigation Risk

Artificial intelligence-related securities litigation continues to accelerate, with plaintiffs increasingly targeting not only alleged misstatements about AI products and capabilities, but also companies’ disclosures regarding their investments in AI and the impact of those investments on business operations.  A couple of recently filed lawsuits challenge AI-related spending and capital allocation decisions, which may underscore whether growing investor scrutiny of whether management adequately disclosed the financial risks, costs, and tradeoffs associated with aggressive AI initiatives.

Continue Reading Another AI Spending-Related Securities Class Action