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Directors’ & Officers’ Liability

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We have an experienced team of lawyers who advise on directors' and officers' matters. Our team deals with coverage, monitoring and defence work for insurers and insureds.

We are able to offer our expertise and solutions for matters ranging from high profile, multi‑jurisdictional, claims in which reputations, livelihoods and even liberty may be at stake, all the way through to smaller, lower quantum matters in which the priority may be cost-effective containment.

We defend directors, whether insured or otherwise, in commercial disputes, DBIS and regulatory proceedings.

Our expertise includes:

  • Claims by liquidators for wrongful/fraudulent trading
  • Claims by liquidators for antecedent claims
  • Derivative claims against directors
  • Claims by a company against their directors for breach of duty/fiduciary duty
  • Unfair prejudice claims
  • SFO investigations
  • FCA investigations
  • Professional body investigations
  • Dawn raids

Dispute resolution: We help our clients avoid litigation and provide expert advice to resolve disputes where possible. Our advice is clear, commercial and conscious of reputational risk. We will vigorously defend unmeritorious claims.

Costs: As legal costs are increasingly a significant factor in all dispute resolution, the team now has a dedicated costs unit to further enhance our service to clients across CMS, minimising costs spend, maximising costs recovery and providing strategic costs advice.

Full Service: As a full service law firm we are able to call upon specialist colleagues in fields such as employment, insolvency and competition and our CMS network expands our capabilities to Europe and beyond.

For more information and detailed credentials, contact the Partner team, details above.


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12/06/2024
Are Professional Indemnity Claims getting harder and more expensive to...
 Our annual Professional Indemnity Seminar for insurance professionals is taking place on Wednesday 12 June 2024. This year we will be considering whether Professional Indemnity claims are becoming harder and more expensive to defend and, if they are, what steps Insurers and Insureds can take to mitigate against this. There will be a number of short presentations from CMS partners and associates on what we consider are the key factors that are impacting the defence of Professional Indemnity Claims, including:The Court’s approach to case management and pre-action con­duct­Man­age­ment of claims against multiple insured partiesIssues in defending insolvent insuredsEnhanced claimant rights - Building Safety ActDevelopments in the recovery of costsPlease register by clicking the button below, and feel free to forward this invitation to colleagues who may find this of interest.
20/05/2024
The FCA’s anti-gre­en­wash­ing rule and guidance: what are the litigation...
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has recently published its finalised guidance on the anti-gre­en­wash­ing rule, which will come into force on 31 May 2024. The anti-gre­en­wash­ing rule, in the Environmental...
16/05/2024
ESMA releases Final Report on Guidelines for fund names using ESG or sus­tain­ab­il­ity-re­lated...
On 14 May 2024, ESMA released its Final Report setting out its finalised guidelines (the “Final Report Guidelines”) on the use of ESG and sus­tain­ab­il­ity-re­lated terms in investment fund names. Following...
16/05/2024
Built on sand: problems of risk allocation and collaboration in port development...
In­tro­duc­tion The British Ports Association estimated in 2022 that there were £1.7bn of port projects in the pipeline, and investment in port infrastructure topped £1bn in 2021. There is pressure to...
16/05/2024
A broader interpretation of "substance or composition" - good news for...
A recent decision from the EPO Boards of Appeal (T 1252/20) potentially paves the way for more diverse products to be patentable in Europe using the medical use claim format.The back­ground:Art­icle 53(c)...
07/05/2024
Energy and climate change: The most significant climate change litigation...
In Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland (application no. 53600/20), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued arguably the most impactful and far-reaching ruling on climate...
30/04/2024
Financial Services Webinars On Demand
View recordings of CMS financial services webinars available on demand.Webinars are a convenient way to stay informed and hear from our legal ex­perts. We­binars On Demandmedium
30/04/2024
Court of Appeal rejects the Abbott tests for “convenient disposal” of multiple...
The Court of Appeal has overturned the tests set out in Abbott v Ministry of Defence [2023] EWHC 1475 (KB) [2023] 1 WLR 4002 in relation to determining whether it is suitable for multiple claimants to...
24/04/2024
CMS Banking Disputes Report 2024
Working with litigation analytics company, Solomonic, CMS has published its Banking Disputes Report 2024, a data-driven review of the Banking and Finance sector’s dispute-related activity to identify...
17/04/2024
APP fraud – Quincecare duty claims against banks replaced by new “retrieval...
The recent decision in CCP Graduate School Ltd v National Westminster Bank plc and another [2024] EWHC 581 (KB), demonstrates how Claimants are repositioning claims against banks arising from authorised...
15/04/2024
Fundamentally dishonest claimant’s claim dismissed: s.57 of the Criminal...
In Kirsty Williams- Henry v Associated British Ports Holdings Ltd [2024] EWHC 806 (KB), a claimant who had sustained serious injuries following her fall from a pier in 2018 had her claim dismissed because...
10/04/2024
FCA Consultation on Payment Optionality for Investment Research (CP24/7)
On 10 April 2024, the FCA published a consultation on Payment Optionality for Investment Research (CP24/7). In the consultation, the FCA proposes a new option for asset managers when paying for investment...