In an earlier post (here), I wrote about a December 30, 2009 ruling in the MBIA coverage litigation that special litigation committee investigation expenses were covered under a D&O liability insurance policy. As I anticipated, the decision has proven to be controversial.
Two law firms that traditionally act as coverage counsel for D&O
Lawsuits alleging violations of the securities laws showed a strong comeback in the third quarter of 2009, according to an Advisen report released on October 14, 2009 (here). The report, the latest in a quarterly series from Advisen, reports that securities lawsuit filings were up "solidly" in the third quarter after a relative
The numbers are unambiguous – there were more securities lawsuits filed in the second half of 2008 than there were in the first half. Nevertheless commentators and observers continue to repeat the mistaken conclusion that there were fewer lawsuits filed in the second half, and even to try to discern some significance from a decline
The $277.5 million jury verdict in the Apollo Group securities lawsuit caused a great sensation at the time it was returned in January 2008 (as discussed here). The verdict heartened plaintiffs’ attorneys and it served as a counterweight to the defense verdict in the virtually contemporaneous JDSU Uniphase securities lawsuit trial (which is discussed
A June 5, 2008 proposal by the Financial Accounting Standards Board that could require public companies to disclosure more about their litigation risks is generating a storm of controversy. As discussed in Zusha Elinson’s June 24, 2008 Law.com article entitled "GC’s Bristle at Proposed Disclosure Rules" (here), under the proposed revision to FASB Statement
In the past week, plaintiffs’ lawyers filed a raft of new subprime and credit crisis related securities lawsuits. The cases involve a wide variety of claimants and defendants, and a diverse array of legal theories. But while the lawsuits themselves are diverse, they do all evidence a common theme, which is that the subprime and
I have previously noted (most recently here) the increasing significance of opt-out actions as a part of securities lawsuit resolution. Columbia Law School Professor John Coffee, in a March 27, 2008 paper entitled “Accountability and Competition in Securities Class Actions: Why ‘Exit’ Works Better Than ‘Voice’” (here) examines the opt-out phenomenon
Regular readers know that I have been tracking subprime-related class-action lawsuits (here). In a recent post, I noted my interest in trying to develop a similar list of subprime-related derivative lawsuits. In response to my request, a number of readers supplied helpful information, and as a result I have been able to develop
Add E*Trade and SunTrust Bank to the growing list of companies that have been sued in purported class action lawsuits on behalf of auction rate securities investors against companies that sold them the instruments. The plaintiffs’ attorney’s April 2, 2008 press release regarding the E*Trade auction rate securities lawsuit can be found here, and
As courts have wrestled with the issue whether certain foreign shareholders can act as lead plaintiffs, or indeed can even be included in the plaintiff shareholder class, they have faced an ever-broader array of questions and challenges. The kinds of issues that foreign shareholder litigants present are illustrated in the February 13, 2008 lead plaintiff