First Quarter Securities Litigation Review sponsored by ACE
After the credit crisis produced record-level securities-suit filings, and 2010 followed up with further records of new filings without a crisis to speak of, the first quarter of 2011 reaffirmed that this higher plateau of filings is perhaps the "new normal." This webinar panel discussed issues surrounding the Q1 new filings, as well as insightful analysis of the Dodd-Frank Act and its likely impact on D&O litigation. Of greatest concern is the Act's controversial whistleblower provision, which many analysts believe will spark a surge in investigations and lawsuits.
Speakers:
Kevin LaCroix: Executive Vice President, OakBridge Insurance Services
Carol Zacharias: Senior Vice President, ACE
Carolyn Polikoff: Senior Vice President, Corporate & Executive Protection Practice Leader, for Woodruff, Sawyer & Company
Dan Bailey: Member, Bailey Cavalieri LLC
Dave Bradford: Chief Knowledge Officer, Advisen Ltd
Moderator: Jim Blinn, Principal, Advisen Ltd
Securities Litigation Reaches a Crescendo: An Advisen Quarterly Report - Q1 2011
After the credit crisis produced record-level securities-suit filings in 2008 and 2009, 2010 set a new record without a crisis to speak of. The first quarter of 2011 affirmed that this higher plateau of filings is perhaps the "new normal". The 362 securities suits filed in Q1 2011 were up a bit from 342 filed in the previous quarter, and were 47 percent above Q1 2010. More importantly, the quarter's annualized rate of 1,448 new filings was 12 percent higher than 2010 and 17 percent above credit-crisis-inflicted 2009. Pre-credit crisis, new filings were coming in at about an 800-to-900-suit annual tempo.
Securities class action suits continued to represent a lower percentage of all securities suits filed in the first quarter compared to years past, accounting for only 17 percent of new suits, though up somewhat from 2010. Securities fraud cases, mostly regulatory actions, remained a leading type of new securities suit filing, as government prosecutors continued to be active. Breach of fiduciary duties suits have become litigators' bread-and-butter in recent years, and also were a leader in new filings. Many of these lawsuits are filed by shareholders who allege that a company's board of directors sold, or planned to sell, a company at terms unfavorable to the shareholders. Despite the dramatic falloff in credit crisis-related suits over the past year, suits filed against financial firms and their directors and officers remain stubbornly high, at 34 percent of suits filed. Globalization impacted this quarter as suits filed against non-U.S. companies rose to 16 percent of all new filings, with companies from China leading all others.
Sponsored by ACE
