As a follow-up to my year-end activities, including publishing a list of my own top ten 2019 travel pictures, I have also been publishing pictures that readers have submitted of their 2019 travels. My first installment of readers’ 2019 travel pictures can be found here, the second installment can be found here, and the third installment can be found here. In this post, I am publishing the latest round of readers’ travel…

In the following guest post, Paul A. Ferrillo takes a look at the recent findings that the SEC Office of Compliance, Inspections and Examinations issue with respect to its cybersecurity examinations of registered investment advisers and broker dealers. The findings, Paul suggests, provides good guidance from a number of perspectives with regard to cybersecurity governance issues. Paul is a partner with McDermott, Will & Emery. I would like to thank Paul for allowing me to…

As I have noted in prior posts, and as a result of a number of factors, the current marketplace for D&O insurance marketplace is disrupted, with many buyers experiencing significant price increases. In the following guest post, Jeff Hirsch, Head of Product at Scale Underwriting, takes a detailed look at current D&O insurance pricing trends. A version of this article previously was published on the Foundershield blog. I would like to thank Jeff and…

The number of workplace discrimination and harassment charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission  (EEOC) during Fiscal Year 2019 (which ended September 30, 2019) declined to the lowest level since at least FY 1997 (the earliest year reported on the agency’s website), according the EEOC’s recent statistical release. The number of charges overall had also declined in the 2018 fiscal year, but in 2018, the number of sexual harassment charges had increased, apparently…

A recent judicial ruling out of the U.K. provides an interesting perspective on director’s duties under applicable law when a bankrupt company is in liquidation. As discussed below, the Court held that the director’s duties continue in relevant respects even if the director’s powers cease as of the date of the bankruptcy filing. The circumstances of the case provide an interesting example of a claim that arose against a former director post-liquidation. As discussed below,…

Policy exclusions with the broad “based upon or arising out of” sometimes may be applied very broadly to sweep beyond the claims that the exclusion aimed to exclude. In a recent coverage dispute, a professional liability insurer sought to apply an exclusion with the broad preamble language and precluding coverage for ERISA and securities law claims in order to preclude coverage even the common law and bankruptcy law claims alleged against the insured. In a…

In numerous prior posts, I have meditated on the meaning of “relatedness” and what it takes to make two claims sufficiently similar that they should be treated as the same claim. That was the question that a Pennsylvania federal district court addressed in a recent decision in an insurance coverage dispute. As discussed below, on January 27, 2020, Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Timothy J. Savage, applying Pennsylvania law, concluded that, despite overlaps,…