Jon Janes at Woodruff Sawyer

Managing Through Financial Distress: The Board’s Oversight Role and Protecting Against Litigation

When a public company faces significant financial challenges and uncertainty, the pressure on management teams and boards of directors to make the “right” decisions intensifies. If those financial challenges are not...more

12/19/2024 / Board of Directors , Commercial Bankruptcy , Corporate Governance , Corporate Restructuring , Creditors , Fiduciary Duty , Financial Distress , Insolvency

Clawbacks Can’t Touch This: Executives, Protect Your Pay with Clawback Insurance

It’s been a year since the SEC’s compensation clawback rules took effect. Since then, US-listed public companies have implemented compliant compensation clawback policies that require executive officers to pay back...more

10/31/2024 / Clawbacks , Dodd-Frank , Final Rules , Incentive Compensation , Indemnification , Insurance Industry , Reporting Requirements , Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) , Securities Exchange Act

Insights from the SVB Bankruptcy: Insurance Lessons for Directors and Officers

There were 18,926 business bankruptcy filings in 2023. The number of companies that filed for bankruptcy with $1 billion or more in liabilities was 22. Some notable companies filed for bankruptcy including RiteAid, Vice...more

4/11/2024 / Banking Sector , Banks , FDIC , Financial Institutions , Silicon Valley

Bed Bath & Beyond, Bankruptcy, and Fiduciary Litigation

In September 2023, former employees of Bed Bath & Beyond sued members of the company’s 401(k) committee, the committee responsible for the prudent management of the company’s 401(k) plan. The former employees allege they lost...more

11/30/2023 / 401k , Breach of Duty , Employee Benefits , Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) , Fiduciary Duty , Retirement Plan

The Lone Star State Joins the Herd with a New Data Privacy Law

With the signing of the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA) on June 18, Texas became the 10th state to adopt a consumer privacy law. Texas joined nine other states with the new law, and others are going in the same...more

8/14/2023 / Consumer Privacy Rights , Cybersecurity , Data Privacy , Data Protection , Data Security , Personal Data , State Privacy Laws

Excessive Fee Litigation: A New Hope

Excessive fee class action lawsuits continued to harass plan fiduciaries and the fiduciary liability insurance market in 2022, with 88 new suits filed...more

4/13/2023 / Breach of Duty , Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) , Excessive Fees , Fiduciary Duty , Fiduciary Liability Insurance , Hughes v. Northwestern University , Pleading Standards , Retirement Plan

Corporate Dissolutions: D&O Protection Considerations

Many companies rely on capital raises to grow their business and bring products and services to market—but there are times that economic and financial market conditions make it difficult for companies to secure needed...more

8/18/2022 / Board of Directors , Corporate Counsel , Corporate Dissolution , Corporate Governance , Corporate Officers , D&O Insurance , Directors , Dissolution

Crime Market Update: Management Liability Auxiliary Lines, Part 3

Crime policies cover theft of money, tangible property, and securities by employees and others. The crime market is currently stable. But could it be the calm before the impact of the work-from-home storm is fully known?...more

6/23/2022 / Blockchain , Cryptocurrency , Cyber Crimes , Cybersecurity , D&O Insurance , Digital Assets , Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) , Popular , Ransomware

Fiduciary Liability Market Update: Management Liability Auxiliary Lines, Part 2

In this three-part series, Woodruff Sawyer management liability expert Jon Janes shines a light on three often-overlooked lines of management liability coverages: Employment Practices Liability, Fiduciary Liability, and Crime...more

6/15/2022 / 401k , D&O Insurance , Department of Labor (DOL) , Employee Benefits , Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) , Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) , Fiduciary Duty , Fiduciary Liability Insurance

EPL Market Update: Management Liability Auxiliary Lines, Part 1