Frankfurt am Main
The D&O Diary was on travel in Europe this past week, with an extended sojourn in Germany. It was delightful to be back in Germany after the long pandemic-caused travel interlude. The pleasure of the journey was substantially enhanced by the absolutely terrific weather we enjoyed during our visit.
The primary purpose of the first leg of the trip was to participate in a conference in Frankfurt sponsored by the DRRT…
The global COVID-19 pandemic is now into its third year and it continues to affect the economy and the business environment. The following guest post takes a look at the pandemic’s continuing impact and reviews the possibility that the ongoing effects could increase the number of corporate insolvencies in the UK. This paper was written by Thomas Harris, a Senior Underwriter in the London D&O team of Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance UK; Ben Barker, head…
In the latest edition of its annual report, the Sidley Austin law firm takes a detailed look at important securities litigation developments in 2021 relating to life sciences companies. The report includes not only a review of life sciences companies’ securities litigation class action filings trends but also examines life sciences companies’ track record in the courts, both with respect to motions to dismiss in the district courts and on appeal. The law firm’s report,…
The pace of SPAC-related securities lawsuit filings recently has perceptibly increased. Earlier this week, I noted two SPAC-related securities class action lawsuits that had been filed in the preceding days. Following my publication of that earlier post, plaintiffs’ lawyers filed two more SPAC-related securities suits, adding to the growing numbers of SPAC-related securities suits that have been filed this year. As discussed below, the likelihood is that we will continue to see further SPAC-related securities…
Since the earliest outbreak of the coronavirus in the U.S. in March 2020, I have been tracking the coronavirus-related D&O litigation. There have been D&O suits filed throughout the intervening period, though the nature of the suits and the kinds of allegations have evolved over time. One recent aspect of the changes has been that, as pandemic-related circumstances have blended into general business conditions, it has become increasingly difficult to say with certainty whether certain…
The number of securities class action lawsuits filed against life sciences companies in 2021 declined overall relative to 2020 but remained steady as a proportion of the total number of securities class action lawsuits filed during the year, according to a new report from the Dechert law firm. The report, entitled “Dechert Survey: Developments in Securities Fraud Class Actions Against U.S. Life Sciences Companies: 2021 Edition,” states that there were a total of 59 securities…
Michael W. Peregrine
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will have many ramifications, some of which may only become apparent over the course of years . For those of us whose job is to worry about the liability exposures of corporate directors and officers, one question has been whether the developments in Ukraine will have legal implications for companies and their executives. Among other concerns for companies and their executives is the sanction regimes that the governments…
In the following guest post, Ed Whitworth, the Head of Directors and Officers Liability at Inigo, and Yera Patel, Head of Casualty & Financial Lines Claims and Analytics for Inigo, summarize the results of a recent survey Inigo conducted of U.S. securities litigation defense counsel.. The original of the survey summary previously was published on Inigo’s blog, here. I would like to thank Ed, Yera, and Inigo for allowing me to publish the report…
As I have noted in numerous prior posts on this site, over the course of the last two years plaintiffs’ lawyers have filed a host of COVID-19-related securities claims. With the passage of time, many of these cases have now worked their way to the motion to dismiss stage. Although the results have been mixed, the dismissal motions have been granted in several cases. In the latest example of favorable outcome for a COVID-19-related lawsuit…
In my recent year-end wrap up of directors’ and officers’ liability and insurance issues that arose during 2021, I conjectured that several current economic circumstances – including in particular supply chain disruptions – could lead to D&O claims in 2022. The way that D&O claims might arise out of these economic conditions is illustrated in a new securities class action lawsuit filed against the software company Cerence, which experienced a reduction in automobile industry demand…