Michelle Reed Quoted in Corporate Board Member on D&O Liability Issues

Akin Gump litigation partner Michelle Reed discusses director and officer (D&O) liability issues in two articles in the latest Corporate Board Member magazine.

In “Protecting Your Assets,” Reed notes that merger objection lawsuits, which carry a cost for insurers, have declined recently, though that’s not likely to last. “There is a lot of capital out there that is unused, so M&A is ripe for continued growth,” she says. That, in turn, could lead to an uptick in related litigation.

Reed also warns that companies must strike the right balance when it comes to liability insurance, as too much could make settling with plaintiffs more challenging. She says, “Companies [often] have such a difficult time settling because they have such a large stock of D&O insurance.”

The article “D&O: Basic Structure and Considerations” provides a general overview of D&O liability insurance, in which Reed talks about priority-of-payments provisions – something, she says, help better protect directors looking to get an advance for defense costs.