His reputation is at stake (often fueled by a stream of adverse news articles in the local press) and, because a director’s or officer’s liability even for ‘corporate decisions’ is a personal liability, such a claim can be a financial nightmare as well.

The situation is made all the worse when the director receives notification that the D&O insurer may be denying coverage. This article lays out the top 10 steps for a director to take to put him back in control.

In a case where Mr. Sagalow was representing the defendant insurance carrier, the Court concluded:

Darwin’s expert, Ty R. Sagalow, is qualified under Rule 702 by way of his experience and education. Mr. Sagalow has over 30 years’ experience as an insurance executive, and has served as both chief underwriting officer and general counsel at one of the world’s largest insurance companies. His diverse professional experience at a variety of companies in the insurance industry demonstrates a breadth of experience drafting and interpreting policies, making underwriting decisions, and claims handling….The Court concludes that Sagalow’s experience, training and education provided a sufficient foundation of reliability for his testimony. His specialized knowledge in the insurance field may be helpful to the trier of fact in understanding the evidence or determining facts in issue.