Now more than at any time since the savings and loan (S&L) crisis in the 1980s, directors and officers of financial institutions must be aware of liability risks related to performance of their duties.

All indications point toward the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) digging in for a litigation campaign against bank directors and officers of the same size and scope as the S&L crisis. On Nov. 1, 2010, the FDIC filed its second lawsuit against officers of a failed bank, Heritage Community Bank in Illinois, following the FDIC's first such suit in July 2010 against former officers of IndyMac Bank. On Jan. 14, 2011, the FDIC filed two more suits against former officers of Integrity Bank of Alpharetta, Ga., and of 1^st Centennial Bank in California. 

These suits are at the leading edge of a building wave of litigation against bank directors and officers. In addition to the four suits identified above, the FDIC has authorized suits against numerous other officers and directors of failed banks. In total, as of the end of February 2011, the FDIC has authorized suits against 130 officers and directors, seeking total damages of over $2.5 billion.