In a recent New York Times Blog, "When Legal Bills Become a Cause for Dispute" by Peter J. Henning, professor at Wayne State Law School reports that Lloyd's of London is now responsible for paying up to nearly $100 million for the defense of R. Allen Stanford who was charged with conspiracy, securities fraud, and money laundering at Stanford Financial Group. White collar defense is an enormous expensive to defend, requiring a "staffing with a phalanx of partners, associates, and paralegals" and "defense costs can reach the ten of millions of dollars fairly quickly."
In the Stanford case, the court rejected the Lloyd's argument it did not have to pay the costs of defending criminal and civil cases because the policy included an exclusion from coverage when the officers are charged with committing money laundering. The blog reports that the decision by U.S. District Court Judge David Hittner in Houston "is one in a growing line of cases requiring the payment of attorney's fees for corporate directors, officers, and employees accused of wrongdoing."