This study examines whether directors' and officers' (D&O) insurers and lenders effectively monitor securities litigation and respond through pricing before case outcomes are known. By “monitoring,” we refer to tracking case progress and obtaining information from the insured (defendant)...

In 2001, Nevada significantly limited the personal legal liability of corporate officers and directors. We use this exogenous shock to implement a differences-in-differences design that examines the impact of officer and director litigation risk on agency costs. We find decreased firm value,...

Does personal litigation risk for independent directors materially affect firm valuation, compensation-related issues for independent directors, and board composition decisions? We use the unexpected In re Investors Bancorp decision in 2017 by the Delaware Supreme Court, which lowered the...

After decades of declining litigation risk, independent directors of public companies are viewed as effectively immune to personal litigation costs. However, the unexpected In re Investors Bancorp decision by the Delaware Supreme Court in 2017 lowered the liability threshold only for directors...

This study examines the spillover effect of securities litigation. Peers of the sued firm have negative three-day abnormal returns around case filings and continue underperforming over sixty trading days. Peers also improve financial reporting quality and change qualitative disclosure...