Financial Advisor Engagement Letters: Post-Rural/Metro Thoughts and Observations

Morris Nichols partner Eric S. Klinger-Wilensky and attorney Nathan P. Emeritz will serve as panelists in the webinar “Financial Advisor Engagement Letters: Post-Rural/Metro Thoughts and Observations” hosted by the American Bar Association on April 6, 2016 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET.

The liability of RBC in last year’s In re Rural/Metro decision was derivative of several breaches of fiduciary duty by the Rural/Metro directors, including, according to the Delaware Court of Chancery, those directors’ failing “to provide active and direct oversight of RBC.” The Court of Chancery stated that a “part of providing active and direct oversight is acting reasonably to learn about actual and potential conflicts faced by directors, management and their advisors.” In the year since Rural/Metro, there has been an ongoing discussion and debate - in scholarly and trade journals, courtrooms and the marketplace - regarding how, if at all, the process of vetting potential financial advisor conflicts should evolve. 

In this webinar, Eric, Nate and co-panelist Scott Luftglass (Fried Frank) will discuss and debate whether financial advisor engagement letters are an efficient tool to vet potential conflicts of a financial advisor. Panelists will then discuss and debate whether certain contractual provisions in engagement letters are responsive to concerns expressed by the courts. Throughout the discussion, they will also explore certain practical limitations and challenges facing financial advisors seeking to be responsive to their clients and to the courts on these topics.

This webinar is based on the article, “Financial Advisor Engagement Letters: Post-Rural/Metro Thoughts and Observations,” available here.