Every year after Labor Day, I take a step back to survey the most important current trends and developments in the world of Directors’ and Officers’ liability and insurance. This year’s review is set out below. As the following discussion shows, this is a particularly interesting time in the world of D&O.Continue Reading What to Watch in the World of D&O
As I noted in a prior post (here), in June, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up a case to consider the legality of the SEC’s use of in-house administrative tribunals, which the agency uses to enforce the federal securities laws. As discussed below in a guest post written by Greg Markel, a partner at the Seyfarth Shaw law firm, and Gershon Akerman, an associate at the firm, the case could have important implications for the SEC’s enforcement authority and could affect the agency’s other activities as well. This article previously was published as a Seyfarth client alert. I would like to thank Greg and Gershon for allowing me to publish their 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 the authors’ article.Continue Reading Guest Post: Sup. Ct. to Rule When Feds Must Provide Enforcement Action Jury Trial
One of the controversies in which the SEC recently has found itself involved has been the agency’s use of its own in-house administrative tribunals, where some believe that the agency has an unfair advantage. The increased use of its administrative courts has also drawn court challenges. In the following guest post, Elan Kandel, a Member at the Cozen O’Connor law firm, and Neil Lipuma, Senior Vice President, Underwriting Leader—Financial Services of Hiscox USA take a look at the controversies surrounding the SEC’s use of its administrative tribunals and examines the recent court challenges to the agency’s practices.
I would like to thank Elan and Neil for their willingness to publish their guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to readers of this blog. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Elan and Neil’s guest post.
*********************************
Earlier this month, the American League won this year’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The winner of the annual All-Star Game enjoys home-field advantage for the World Series. Some have questioned whether there is actually a correlation between “home-field advantage” and winning the World Series. There is nothing to question – there is a distinct advantage. Since 1985, the team with the home-field advantage has won 23 of 29 World Series.[1]
The home field advantage extends beyond Major League Baseball. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enjoys a pronounced home-field advantage when trying enforcement actions in its own administrative courts as opposed to federal district courts. According to a recent analysis in The Wall Street Journal, the SEC “[w]on against 90% of defendants before its own judges in contested cases from October 2010 through March of this year.”[2] For fiscal year 2014, U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff remarked that the SEC had won 100% of the actions tried in its administrative courts, while its success rate in federal court for the same period of time was only 61%.[3]
Continue Reading Guest Post: The Importance of Inferiority as a Basis for Leveling the SEC’s Enforcement Action Playing Field