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Civil Liability for Aiding and Abetting Commercial Fraud, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, and Other Business Torts

A live 90-minute CLE video webinar with interactive Q&A

This program is included with the Strafford CLE Pass. Click for more information.
This program is included with the Strafford All-Access Pass. Click for more information.

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

1:00pm-2:30pm EST, 10:00am-11:30am PST

Early Registration Discount Deadline, Friday, December 6, 2024

or call 1-800-926-7926

This CLE webinar will provide guidance on the expanding scope and risks of civil liability for aiding and abetting another's actionable wrongs and offer strategies for preventing unsuspecting clients from getting trapped in avoidable litigation.

Description

Aiding and abetting is being asserted with such frequency that chances are good most litigators already have or will encounter it. New cases are changing the legal landscape.

Aiding and abetting claims have historically emanated from fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and under the Anti-Terrorism Act. But now they spring up against unsuspecting third parties in routinely encountered cases, such as another's insurance bad faith or unlawful employment practices.

The most litigated issues are whether the defendant had the requisite knowledge of the wrong at the time aid was provided and whether the defendant knowingly provided substantial assistance to the principal wrongdoer, as in Twitter Inc. v. Taamneh, 598 U. S. 471 (2023) and In re Columbia Pipeline Group Merger Litigation, C.A. No. 2018-0484 (Del. Ch. June 30, 2023). What constitutes "knowledge" and "substantial assistance" may vary in fraud and fiduciary duty cases and the Supreme Court in Twitter, while clarifying some points, reaffirmed that the analysis is nuanced and not susceptible to bright line rules. There is no intent requirement, only reasonable foreseeability.

Listen as our panel offers insights to help clarify how aiding and abetting law has evolved and adapted to reach new types of misconduct, discusses expanded state recognition of the claim, and details what recent cases teach about the governing legal standards and the facts needed to establish them.

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Outline

  1. Overview and history of aiding and abetting liability
  2. Substantive elements of civil liability for aiding and abetting
    1. Underlying actionable wrong
    2. Knowledge of the underlying wrong
      1. Effect of motive on knowledge analysis
      2. Reckless disregard and intentional ignorance
    3. Substantial assistance in perpetuating the wrong
      1. Affirmative actions
      2. Concealment
      3. Failing to speak when under obligation to do so
      4. Sliding scale: balancing level of assistance with amount of knowledge
      5. Causation
  3. Frequent defendants and factual scenarios
  4. Defenses
  5. Key cases

Benefits

The panel will explore these and other key issues:

  • What constitutes knowledge of the primary wrong and what type of facts must be alleged to withstand a motion to dismiss?
  • What are common defenses to aiding and abetting torts?
  • What is the difference between aiding and abetting and conspiracy?
  • Is the use of "atypical" banking procedures a critical signifier of "knowledge"?
  • When can silence or a failure to clarify information amount to aiding and abetting?

Faculty

Benjamin, Picker
Benjamin R. Picker

Principal
Kaplin Stewart

Mr. Picker is a principal of the firm and a member of the Commercial Litigation Department. He is an accomplished...  |  Read More

Additional faculty
to be announced.
Attend on December 17

Early Discount (through 12/06/24)

Cannot Attend December 17?

Early Discount (through 12/06/24)

You may pre-order a recording to listen at your convenience. Recordings are available 48 hours after the webinar. Strafford will process CLE credit for one person on each recording. All formats include course handouts.

To find out which recorded format will provide the best CLE option, select your state:

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