Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 167: Listen and Learn -- Direct and Derivative Actions (Corporations)
Board Diversity Podcast
Securities Litigation and Disclosure Issues
Podcast: CFTC Issues LIBOR Transition Relief for Swaps
This quarter we are covering some key court decisions regarding securities and corporate governance issues. The U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed a majority of lower court decisions to require traceability in defining the term...more
A New York business professor called it a “$300 million bar tab to hang out with Jay-Z.” A Delaware judge said that “by all accounts, it was a terrible business decision.” Despite numerous red flags, Jack Dorsey’s company...more
For some time now, merger-objection and acquisition-objection litigation against buyers of companies have been on the rise. In years past, these cases often settled for not much more than additional-disclosure agreements and...more
In this past year, we saw an uptick in in-person court proceedings as the effects of the pandemic subsided, a decrease in pandemic-related litigation, and a return to many of the core issues facing Delaware companies...more
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently weighed key issues under state law involving claims of breach of fiduciary duty in several challenged corporate transactions. Perfection Is Not Expected: Court Finds Flawed...more
As SPAC litigation continues to proliferate, it is more important than ever that officers and directors of companies undertaking a de-SPAC transaction be mindful of litigation risks and adopt strategies for managing them....more
Tesla Motors Stockholder Litigation arises out of Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity, a market leader in manufacturing and installing solar energy generation systems. On two occasions in 2015 and 2016, Elon Musk suggested to...more
On April 28, 2022, Vice Chancellor Slights of the Delaware Chancery Court issued a verdict for the defense in In re Tesla Motors, Inc. Stockholder Litigation, a long-running derivative lawsuit challenging the 2016 acquisition...more
In Firemen’s Ret. Sys. of St. Louis v. Sorenson, C.A. No. 2019-0965-LWW (Del. Ch. Oct. 5, 2021), the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed a derivative lawsuit against Marriott executives and directors for breaches of the duty...more
In Re BGC Partners, Inc. Derivative Litigation, Consol. C.A. No. 2018-0722-LWW (Del. Ch. Sep. 20, 2021) - A director protected by an exculpatory provision is entitled to dismissal in a breach of fiduciary duty action...more
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between November 2020 and January 2021. Derivative Litigation - Second Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment...more
Rhode Island Federal Court Dismisses Securities Class Action Against CVS Arising From Statements Made After Omnicare Acquisition; SEC Division of Corporation Finance Suggests Companies Issue Additional Disclosures When...more
This issue covers important, developing areas of Delaware corporation law and deal litigation, including an increased focus on officer-related actions in merger litigation, the treatment of Caremark claims after Marchand and...more
Consistent with trends in recent years, in 2019 Delaware corporation law largely was shaped by post-closing suits for money damages against directors who had approved mergers and acquisitions. Two Delaware Supreme Court...more
On January 13, 2020, in an opinion authored by Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz, Jr., the Supreme Court of Delaware affirmed the dismissal by Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III of the Delaware Court of Chancery of a stockholder...more
We were pretty sure that the Fed would keep interest rates steady as it wrapped its Open Market Committee meetings yesterday, and Fed Chair Powell delivered on that expectation. He also admitted that the same lack of...more
On April 1, 2019, Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III of the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed for lack of demand a stockholder derivative suit against directors of Uber Technologies, Inc. (“Uber”) that asserted breach of...more
McElrath v. Kalanick, C.A. No. 2017-0888-SG (Del. Ch. Apr. 1, 2019). This derivative action arose out of Uber’s acquisition of a self-driving vehicle firm named Otto, which involved former Google employees. Google sued...more
This quarter's issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between November 2017 and January 2018. The cases address developing trends in appraisal, class certification, core...more
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between August 2017 and October 2017....more
On May 31, 2017, Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III of the Delaware Court of Chancery declined to dismiss purported derivative and direct stockholder claims for breaches of fiduciary duty against the directors of Charter...more
On May 9, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”) affirmed in part and reversed in part an earlier decision from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, which had held that aspects of the...more
Delaware law provides important tools for directors to maintain control of derivative lawsuits.1 One such tool is the “demand requirement” embodied in Court of Chancery Rule 23.1, which requires that before a stockholder acts...more
On May 2, 2017, Vice Chancellor Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed a purportedly derivative and putative class action brought by a minority stockholder of software company VMware, Inc. (“VMware”), a subsidiary...more
Our Delaware Corporate and Alternative Entity Law attorneys closely followed the opinions coming from Delaware’s Supreme Court and Court of Chancery. Our 2016 Year in Review is a collection of brief summaries of selected...more