Erin McGinn

As regular readers know, I have for several years been tracking on this site the largest shareholder derivative lawsuit settlements. In the following guest post, Erin McGinn, Head of Financial Lines Claims, Vantage Risk, analyses and discusses the largest recent shareholder derivative lawsuit settlements and considers the settlements’ implications for Side-A D&O insurance. A version of this article was previously published on vantagerisk.com. I would like to thank Erin for allowing me to publish her 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 Erin’s article.Continue Reading Guest Post: As Derivative Settlements Trend Higher, Side-A Coverage Becomes Crucial

The number of federal court securities class action lawsuit filings in the first half of 2023, if annualized, suggests a year-end total number of filings that would represent a 15% increase over the number of filings in 2022, according to a new report from NERA Economic Consulting. The report, which is entitled “Recent Trends in Securities Class Action Litigation: H1 2023 Update,” also reports that while average securities suits settlement values were down in the year’s first half compared to 2022, the median suit settlement increased compared to 2022. A copy of the August 2, 2023, NERA report can be found here. NERA’s August 2, 2023 press release regarding the report can be found here. Continue Reading NERA: First Half Securities Suit Filings Point to Overall Full-Year Increase

The number of securities class action lawsuit filings involving accounting allegations increased slightly in 2022 compared to 2021, but the number of 2022 accounting-related securities suit filings remained below the long-term annual average of such filings, according to the latest annual report from Cornerstone Research. At the same time, the total number, aggregate total value, and median and average values of accounting-related securities suit settlements increased in 2022 compared to the 2021. The Cornerstone Research report, which is entitled “Accounting Class Action Filings and Settlements: 2022 Review and Analysis,” can be found here. Cornerstone Research’s April 12, 2023, press release about the report can be found here.Continue Reading Cornerstone Research: Accounting Related Case Filings and Settlements Increased in 2022

Gary Lill

Elisabeth Groehe

The D&O insurance market is cyclical and is currently going through one of its periodic cycle turns. In the following guest post, Gary Lill, Head of Professional Lines at IQUW, and Elisabeth Groehe, Professional Lines Underwriter at IQUW, examine the current D&O insurance market and discuss the challenges that D&O insurers currently face. A prior version of this article previously was published on the IQUW website. I would like to thank Gary and Elisabeth for allowing me to publish their article as a guest post 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 Gary and Elisabeth’s guest post.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Challenges in the D&O Market – A Sisyphean Task?

In its latest annual report, ISS Securities Class Action Services reports that in 2021 the Robbins Geller law firm, for the second year in a row, secured the highest dollar value in securities class action lawsuit settlements during the year and also was involved in the highest number of separate settlements. The report, which includes both U.S. and Canadian settlements, ranks the top 50 plaintiffs law firms by total dollar value recoveries and the Top Ten plaintiffs law firms ranked by number of settlements achieved. The March 4, 2022 ISS SCAS report, which is entitled “The Top 50 of 2021” and was co-authored by ISS SCAS’s Jeff Lubitz and Lloyd Flores, can be found here.
Continue Reading ISS SCAS Report Ranks Top 50 Plaintiff’s Securities Law Firms by 2021 Settlement Values

There were fewer than 300 total securities class action lawsuit filings in 2021 for the first time since 2016, according to the latest report from NERA Economic Consulting. While the report, entitled “Recent Trends in Securities Class Action Litigation: 2021 Full-Year Review,” notes that securities suit filings declined in 2021 compared to recent years, largely due to a decline in merger objection lawsuit filings, the number of 2021 securities suit filings is “well within pre-2017 historical range.” Aggregate, average, and media settlements also declined in 2021 relative to prior years, according to the report. The report can be found here. NERA’s January 25, 2022 press release about the report can be found here. My own report on the 2021 securities suit filings can be found here.
Continue Reading NERA Economic Consulting Report Shows Decreased Securities Suit Filings in 2021

Among the companies with D&O litigation in recent years arising from sexual misconduct allegations was the clothing and consumer products company L Brands. The parties to the various legal proceedings arising out of the allegations have reached a settlement in which L Brands has agreed to adopt a number of management and governance measures; in order to fund these initiatives, the company has committed to funding of $90 million over the course of five years. As discussed below, the settlement has several interesting features. The parties’ July 30, 2021 stipulation of settlement can be found here.
Continue Reading L Brands Establishes $90 Million Fund in Sexual Misconduct Derivative Suit Settlement

There are a lot of different ways you might look at securities class action litigation settlement data. You might, for example, look at average or median settlement amounts. You might look at the data in the aggregate. Or you could look at it geographically – say, according to the U.S. state in which the case was pending. That is exactly what ISS Securities Class action Services has done. In its latest report, entitled “The Largest U.S. Settlements By State,” the authors identify the largest settlement by U.S. state. The report is interesting and does answer a question that does come up from time to time. A copy of the report can be found here.
Continue Reading Looking at the Largest Securities Suit Settlements by State

In its latest annual study, ISS Securities Class Action Services reports that in 2020 the Robbins Geller law firm secured the highest dollar value in securities class action lawsuit settlements during the year, and also was involved in the highest number of separate settlements. The report, which includes both U.S. and Canadian settlements, ranks the top 50 plaintiffs law firms by total dollar value recoveries and the Top Ten plaintiffs law firms ranked by number of settlements achieved. The March 23, 2021 ISS SCAS report, which is entitled “The Top 50 of 2020,” can be found here.
Continue Reading ISS SCAS Report Ranks Top 50 Plaintiff’s Securities Law Firms by 2020 Settlement Values

The number of securities class action settlements increased only slightly in 2020 compared to 2019, but the aggregate total of all 2020 securities suit settlements doubled compared to the equivalent 2019 total, largely as a result of several “mega” settlements over $100 million, according to a March 17, 2021 report from Cornerstone Research. According to the report, which is entitled “Securities Class Action Settlements: 2020 Review and Analysis,” the average securities suit settlement in 2020 was larger than in 2019, but the median 2020 settlement decreased slightly compared to the 2019 median. Cornerstone Research’s March 17, 2021 press release can be found here and the report itself can be found here.
Continue Reading Cornerstone Research: Large Settlements Increased Total and Average 2020 Securities Suit Settlements