Recent Articles

The List: Madoff Investor and Feeder Fund Litigation

Kevin LaCroix
December 26, 2008 18:04

All signs are that the collapse of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme will produce a flood of litigation. By my count, there have already been at least seven federal securities class action lawsuits against Madoff, his firm, or the "feeder firms" that invested their clients’ funds...

Another Round of Madoff Investor Litigation

Kevin LaCroix
December 24, 2008 18:02

As further proof that the losses associated with the Madoff fraud scheme will trigger a wave of litigation, on December 23, 2008, plaintiffs’ lawyers initiated a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on behalf of investors in the FM Low Volatility Fund, against Family Management...

Court Substantially Denies RAIT Financial Subprime Securities Lawsuit Dismissal

Kevin LaCroix
December 24, 2008 16:47

In the latest ruling on a motion to dismiss in a subprime-related securities lawsuit, on December 22, 2008, Judge Legrome Davis of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted in part and denied in part defendants’ motion to dismiss the suit that plaintiffs’ filed in August 2007 against...

More Madoff "Feeder Fund" Lawsuits

Kevin LaCroix
December 23, 2008 02:25

In the latest of what undoubtedly will prove to be a surge of Madoff-related litigation, investors have filed two more lawsuits against investment firms that invested their clients’ money with Bernie Madoff, resulting in massive investor losses.   The Tremont Lawsuit First, as reflected...

D&O Insurance: Corporate Criminal Investigations

Kevin LaCroix
December 22, 2008 09:35

The initiation of a criminal investigation against a company or its directors and officers can be a watershed moment in the life of any company. In addition to the question of how it will respond, the company must also determine how it will fund the associated legal expense. It is at this critical...

NERA Releases Year-End Securities Litigation Report

Kevin LaCroix
December 18, 2008 16:14

Securities lawsuit filings reached a six-year high in 2008, according to a year-end report released today by NERA Economic Consulting. The report, entitled "2008 Trends in Securities Class Actions" (here), was written by NERA economists Stephanie Plancich and Svetlana Starykh, and reports...

Madoff Victims' Lawsuits Target Investment Firms, "Feeder Funds"

Kevin LaCroix
December 17, 2008 04:13

If today’s filings are any indication, a huge wave of Madoff victim lawsuits could be coming. Madoff investors were quick to sue Madoff and his firm, with the first complaint filed last Friday (as noted here). But with Madoff’s firm in liquidation and the money likely long gone,...

D&O Insurance: Inadequate Consideration Exclusion Bars Coverage

Kevin LaCroix
December 17, 2008 04:04

A December 15, 2008 opinion (here) in a Delaware bankruptcy court adversary proceeding provides a rare judicial interpretation of an "inadequate consideration" exclusion in a D&O insurance policy. I have reproduced with permission below a summary of the case prepared by the Wiley Rein...

Subprime Securities Suit against Bank Dismissed Without Prejudice

Kevin LaCroix
December 17, 2008 03:54

In the latest preliminary ruling in a subprime or credit crisis-related securities lawsuit, Southern District of Florida Judge Ursula Ungaro in a December 11, 2008 opinion (here) granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ complaint, with leave to...

Time Out for - Options Backdating?? (and other Updates...)

Kevin LaCroix
December 16, 2008 02:01

We interrupt our regularly scheduled stream of dispatches from the credit crisis front to provide a quick update on the now seemingly remote options backdating scandal. Even though the whole world has moved on and though options backdating pales by comparison to what followed, many options...