Director and Officer Liability Law Firm
Bailey Cavalieri, LLC
For more information about director and officer liability law, please contact Dan A. Bailey.
Director and Officer Liability Practice
While Bailey Cavalieri LLC is new to the legal community, our directors and officers (“D&O”) lawyers are not. From their often cited Two-Volume Treatise Liability of Corporate Officers & Directors (7th Edition, LexisNexis Matthew Bender Publishing) 2002, to their representation of clients in high-profile D&O claims including Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia and Qwest, our D&O lawyers are experienced in all facets of D&O liability, indemnification and insurance. The breadth of our practice encompasses virtually every issue that relates to the risks confronting today’s corporate officers and directors.
As a proficient director and officer liability law firm, we offer assistance in the following areas:
For more information, please visit our articles page, where you will find numerous director and officer liability law articles written by members of our D&O liability team.
Drafting Insurance Policies
Our skilled directors and officers’ liability attorneys have drafted most of the standard D&O policy forms and endorsements currently used in today’s insurance marketplace. We are regularly called upon to propose and draft changes to these policies to meet the needs of an ever-changing market. In addition, we have substantial experience in drafting employment practices liability (“EPL”), ERISA fiduciary, and various types of professional liability (“E&O”) policies and endorsements. As a result, Bailey Cavalieri, LLC offers our clients a policy drafter's insight in resolving the numerous issues that arise in financially protecting corporations and their executives in a variety of contexts.
Insurance Underwriting Consultation
In this post-Enron era, the significance of sound, comprehensive underwriting is heightened. Carriers are probing deeper in their investigations and corporations are challenged in how to respond appropriately and effectively. Disclosures during the application process can create significant issues in a later claim.
At Bailey Cavalieri, LLC, with offices in Columbus and Dayton, Ohio, we regularly assist clients during this underwriting process with the goal of minimizing subsequent surprises. We also provide analysis and assistance to carriers in connection with their Loss Mitigation Underwriting activities such as underwriting insurance for existing claims or known events.
Coverage Claims Counsel
The centerpiece of our director and officer liability practice is representing insurance company clients from the initial notice of a claim through ultimate resolution. Our proficient D&O lawyers have acted as coverage counsel in thousands of matters. In that capacity, we assist clients in making coverage determinations, drafting coverage correspondence, administering policy proceeds, monitoring underlying litigation, interfacing with defense counsel, participating in mediations, and facilitating settlements.
Coverage and Bad Faith Litigation
Unfortunately, insurance litigation has increased in frequency in recent years. The director and officer liability litigators at Bailey Cavalieri, LLC regularly represent carriers in mediations, arbitrations and lawsuits involving insurance coverage issues. We have been involved in proceedings relating to virtually all of the significant provisions of a D&O insurance policy, including rescission, severability, corporate indemnity, numerous exclusions, notice, and the application of the bankruptcy automatic stay to D&O policies and their proceeds. Our D&O attorneys have successfully defended bad faith claims for clients who have prevailed in obtaining declaratory judgments supporting coverage determinations.
Expert Witnesses in D&O Litigation
Our director and officer liability lawyers are nationally recognized as leading insurance experts and have testified as experts in liability, insurance, and indemnification proceedings. Our credentials include:
- Authors of Liability of Corporate Officers & Directors (7th Edition, LexisNexis Matthew Bender Publishing) 2002;
- Speaking nationally on corporate officers’ and directors’ liability and insurance;
- Contributing authors, Handbook for Corporate Directors (McGraw-Hill 1985);
- Authors of numerous articles on D&O liability and insurance; and
- Authors of numerous booklets printed by Chubb Group of Insurance Companies and National Union Fire Insurance Co. regarding loss prevention practices and liability exposure analysis.
D&O Loss Prevention
Because our lawyers bear daily witness to the traps and pitfalls confronting today’s directors and officers, we are well-equipped to counsel against them. In the aftermath of Sarbanes-Oxley, D&O Loss Prevention is of heightened importance. We regularly advise both companies and boards on how to navigate and minimize the risks of new corporate reality. We have authored the following booklets addressing D&O Loss Prevention, printed by Chubb Group of Insurance Companies:
- Independent Directors Liability Loss Prevention;
- Directors and Officers Securities Litigation Loss Prevention;
- Directors and Officers Liability Loss Prevention;
- Directors and Officers Liability Loss Prevention for Nonprofit Organizations;
- Directors and Officers Liability for Financial Institutions; and
- ERISA Fiduciary Liability Loss Prevention.
D&O Legal Audits
To cope effectively with the complex and rapidly changing legal environment, the Bailey Cavalieri, LLC director and officer liability attorneys have created a comprehensive insurance program review, which includes evaluating the terms, amount, and types of insurance products maintained. By reviewing existing policies for “gaps” and adequacy, we ensure that our clients maintain programs consisting of solid, cost-effective insurance, with integrated risk coverage consistent with current market conditions.
D&O Insurance Alternatives
For a variety of reasons, corporations have sought alternatives to traditional D&O insurance. While D&O insurance tends to be the best, most comprehensive risk shifting method for protecting corporate directors and officers, our effective and decisive lawyers have helped design creative alternative arrangements tailored to a company’s particular needs.
