It is not uncommon for corporate boards facing shareholder derivative litigation to appoint a special litigation committee to investigate the allegations that the plaintiff shareholder raised in the suit. However, in an unusual development in the shareholder derivative lawsuit pending in Delaware against directors and officers of Oracle, the company’s board’s special litigation committee (SLC) has advised the court that the committee of three independent directors believes it is in the company’s best interest to allow the lead plaintiff (rather than the committee itself) to proceed with the claims on behalf of Oracle. Alison Frankel’s August 19, 2019 post on her On the Case blog discussing the Oracle derivative lawsuit and the SLC’s letter to the court can be found here.
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Guest Post: Back to Basics: Board and Special Litigation Committee Investigations in Shareholder Derivative Litigation
In the following guest post, Marc Casarino, a partner in the White & Williams law firm, and Doug Greene, the National Practice Leader of BakerHostetler’s Securities and Governance Litigation Team, take a look at the special litigation committee process and examine the ways in which the SLC process can be “robust, successful and efficient.” I would like to thank Marc and Doug for their willingness to allow me to publish their article as a guest post on my 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 Marc and Doug’s article.
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Guest Post: 2nd Circ. Holds D&O Policies Cover Voluntary Compliance Expenses and Special Litigation Committee Costs
In its sweeping July 1, 2011 opinion in the MBIA case, the Second Circuit addressed many of the D&O insurance coverage issues that are currently the most contentious. The opinion has occasioned much discussion and commentary in the D&O insurance industry. My blog post about the case can be found here.
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D&O Insurance: Second Circuit Holds Investigative and Special Litigation Committee Expenses Covered
In a sweeping July 1, 2011 opinion in MBIA’s favor, the Second Circuit held that the company’s D&O insurance policies cover the investigative and special litigation expense the company incurred during a regulatory investigation of its accounting practices. This case had been closely watched in the D&O insurance community because of widespread carrier concerns over