Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 167: Listen and Learn -- Direct and Derivative Actions (Corporations)
Board Diversity Podcast
Securities Litigation and Disclosure Issues
Podcast: CFTC Issues LIBOR Transition Relief for Swaps
Takeaway: With the surge of data and cybersecurity breaches, corporate directors and officers have become targets for shareholder derivative lawsuits. Fortunately, there are procedural measures that directors and officers can...more
Investors filed a derivative suit claiming that the company knew about, and failed to mitigate known, existing cybersecurity risks and shortfalls prior to the security breach. In early November, pension funds and...more
A stark warning from the Centers for Disease Control that Americans should prepare for a COVID-19 outbreak sent stocks tumbling again on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 closing down 3% (and firmly in the red for the year) by the...more
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) takes effect on January 1, 2020, and applies to all companies that do business in the Golden State. The new act is California’s rejoinder to Europe’s General Data Protection...more
On January 4, 2019 a federal district court in California approved a $29 million settlement in a shareholder derivative lawsuit against former Yahoo directors and officers regarding high-profile data breaches at Yahoo between...more
The State of Rhode Island, Office of the Rhode Island General Treasurer, acting on behalf of the Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island, recently filed a motion for consolidation of the two lawsuits and appointment as...more
Altaba Inc., the successor company of Yahoo Inc., recently noted in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that after its settlement of consumer and shareholder suits relating to Yahoo’s data breach that...more
Shareholders may have found a new hook for data security lawsuits. Over the past year, plaintiffs have filed nine federal class action securities fraud lawsuits against public companies after data security incidents,...more
Takeaways - Companies that suffer cyberattacks can expect not sympathy but scrutiny from legal authorities. - D&O insurance can cover not only litigation but also investigation costs. - Strategic negotiation of...more
Several high-profile lawsuits have been filed in recent years by shareholders seeking to hold corporate officers and directors liable for damage resulting from data security breaches. For example, directors and officers at...more
In a surprise move late last week, Home Depot has agreed to settle a shareholders derivative suit filed against current and former members of the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Information...more
We previously reported that Wendy’s was hit with a putative class action shareholders’ derivative suit in December following its data breach in 2016. Late last week, the executives and Board of Wendy’s filed a Motion to...more
Last week, Yahoo issued another warning to some of its customers telling them that their personal information may have been compromised in a data breach. This is the third notification to Yahoo users that their information...more
A number of claims have been made against companies’ directors and officers alleging a breach of fiduciary duty for failing to adequately oversee data security programs. To date, the defendants’ oversight of the programs and...more
Continuing the trend of filing a shareholders derivative suit following a data breach, a Wendy’s shareholder recently filed a derivative suit against Wendy’s executives and board members alleging they did not adequately...more
Public companies that are proactively working to mitigate “cyber” risks and prepare to respond to potential incidents frequently ask whether a “breach” will lead to litigation, loss of customers, stock price decline, and...more
On November 30, 2016, The Home Depot, Inc. (Home Depot) got a victory in the shareholders’ derivative suit filed against it for its alleged failure to institute necessary controls to secure its data relating to its 2014...more
On November 30, 2016, a federal district court dismissed a shareholder derivative complaint against various current and former directors of Home Depot arising from the well-publicized data breach the company suffered between...more
In the span of two days, mobile device users learned of two data breaches that could compromise their personal data. In one, Experian (a credit reporting agency) reported that it was hacked, potentially putting 15 million...more
Although Target has tentatively settled consumer data breach class action claims, the retailer remains in the crosshairs of the plaintiffs’ class action bar. On September 15, a Minnesota federal district court certified a...more
Everyone remembers the Target Corporation data breach, one of the worst in history. In late 2013, hackers forced their way into Target’s computer system, accessing the information of approximately 70 million customers,...more
Target’s 2013 data breach has generated over 100 consumer lawsuits, which were consolidated last year before the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. On December 18, 2014, Judge Paul A. Magnuson issued a...more
On October 20, 2014, Wyndham Worldwide Corporation won dismissal of a shareholder derivative suit seeking damages arising out of three data breaches that occurred between 2008 and 2010. Dennis Palkon, et al. v. Stephen P....more
U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler of the District of New Jersey recently provided much needed guidance to directors and officers on their duties and responsibilities with regard to cybersecurity. In Palkon v. Holmes, et...more
We recently discussed the increase in data breach litigation which resulted after several high-profile data breaches. You can read those articles here and here. Not surprisingly, several of these suits involve class actions...more