Indemnification: Forgotten D&O Protection

In the current post-Enron environment, directors and officers increasingly realize, perhaps more than ever before, that absent strong financial protection, their personal assets are at risk if they are alleged to have committed wrongdoing in their capacity as a director or officer.  This heightened sensitivity to one’s personal risk exposures arises not only because the magnitude of settlements has increased dramatically, but also because it is now almost commonplace for plaintiffs and regulators to more aggressively pursue individual director and officer defendants.  The public seems to endorse if not demand that mentality, at least in the more publicized cases.