The SpaceX initial public offering has captured global attention, positioned to potentially become the largest IPO in financial history. Beyond its massive scale, the offering is drawing heavy scrutiny from corporate law experts and institutional investors due to the extraordinary measures implemented to isolate the company from D&O litigation. By embedding unprecedented “litigation-aversion” provisions within
A common feature of many liability insurance policies is a specification that the policyholder may not settle a claim without the insurer’s advance consent. However, some policies, particularly professional liability insurance policies, may require the insurer to obtain the policyholder’s consent to settlement before settling a claim. A recent ruling in a litigated coverage dispute
The D&O Diary has been chronicling how securities plaintiffs continue to expand litigation theories beyond traditional “AI-washing” claims. The recent securities class action against data protection company Commvault Systems, Inc. demonstrates how AI hype and strategy can become entangled with traditional securities claims, even when actual AI integration is not the central issue of the
For several years, cybersecurity has been a perennial D&O liability issue. Although there has never quite been the volume of cybersecurity-related D&O litigation that some anticipated, cybersecurity-related D&O claims do continue to arise. In the latest example, last week a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities suit against cloud data storage company Snowflake, alleging, among many
The D&O Diary has been tracking how fragmented state and federal climate disclosure initiatives, along with rising anti-ESG litigation, are reshaping D&O risk. Vanguard Guard Group’s (Vanguard) recent settlement of the anti-ESG antitrust litigation that red state attorneys general (AGs) brought against the firm and several other asset management companies could mark a watershed moment
Those who observe securities class action litigation filing patterns know that life sciences companies are frequent securities litigation targets. Though the number of securities suit filings against life sciences companies fluctuates from year to year, more recently the number of life sciences company filings has stabilized at higher levels, according to the latest annual report
The D&O Diary’s European assignment continued this week with a long weekend visit to Croatia, the southeastern European country located along the Adriatic Sea with a long, irregular coastline marked by numerous islands. This was a long overdue return visit to Croatia for us, after a memorable 2018 visit to Dubrovnik.
On May 11, 2026, the Supreme Court of New Jersey issued a highly anticipated ruling, holding that when an individual’s actions span both insured and uninsured capacities, that overlap in role-based conduct is sufficient to trigger the D&O policy’s capacity exclusion. Affirming the July 9, 2024, Appellate Court decision, with modifications, the Court
It is a well-established fact that securities class action lawsuits rarely go to trial. In most cases, the lawsuits are either dismissed or settled. However, there has been an interesting recent uptick in the number of securities suits going all the way to a jury verdict. In the latest example of this development, on May
The recent securities and derivative litigation involving e.l.f. Beauty reflects a familiar D&O liability pattern: a high-growth narrative challenged by operational headwinds, followed by securities litigation and a derivative action. While e.l.f. and its D&Os achieved meaningful success at the motion to dismiss stage, the survival of certain securities claims and a recently filed a