Insurance Coverage, Appellate

Insurance Coverage, Appellate

The Court of Appeal (see August 2005 and May 2006), having considered full briefing and oral argument, issued an opinion which virtually mirrored the relief which we had requested on behalf of our client and which clarified the law in several areas. The ultimate holding was that our client would not be obligated to respond to discovery until after the underlying claims (civil securities class action litigation, civil securities derivative litigation, federal criminal investigations and an SEC investigation). This meant that it would be virtually impossible for the insurers to advance their defenses, specifically including those based on rescission, until after the conclusion of the underlying claims. This would potentially expose them to bad faith liability and made settlement of this otherwise very complex and contentious case a real possibility.