In 2014, lawsuits by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) that named the directors and officers of failed financial institutions greatly exceeded the annual totals of the previous three years.

There were 40 D&O suits in 2013, compared to annual totals of 26 in 2012, 16 in 2011, and two in 2010, according to a recent study by Cornerstone Research titled “Characteristics of FDIC Lawsuits against Directors and Officers of Failed Financial Institutions—February 2014.”

The pace of D&O litigation fell off in the fourth quarter, but that seems temporary. Cornerstone SVP Katie Galley advises that three suits were filed in January 2014 and states that the result of legal strategies on both sides will determine “whether we see protracted litigation…or movement to settle cases earlier.”