In recent years, there has been an ever-increasing number of public and private companies adopting exclusive forum provisions in their charter or bylaws. Having exclusive forum provisions in place can be beneficial for a...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”) published its proxy voting guidelines updates for 2021 (“Policy Updates”) on November 12, 2020. The changes that are likely to be of most interest to companies include new and...more
On September 1, 2020, Judge Marie S. Weiner of the San Mateo County, California Superior Court held that an exclusive federal forum provision was enforceable under California law. See Wong v. Restoration Robotics, Inc., No....more
In March 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Cyan, Inc. v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund, 138 S. Ct. 1061 (2018), resolved a jurisprudential split among federal courts and held that certain federal securities claims...more
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has signed into law revisions to several Minnesota business organization statutes including the Minnesota Business Corporation Act, the Minnesota Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act,...more
Yesterday’s post concerned Section 2116 of the California Corporations Code. Courts sometimes describe Section 2116 as codifying the internal affairs doctrine. See, e.g., Vaughn v. LJ Internat., Inc., 174 Cal. App. 4th 213,...more
In IBEW Local No. 129 Benefit Fund v. Tucci, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) affirmed the dismissal of direct claims for breach of fiduciary duty by EMC shareholders challenging the merger of EMC and Dell, Inc....more
In 2015, the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) was amended to prohibit Delaware corporations from adopting bylaws that imposed liability on a stockholder for the attorneys’ fees or expenses of the corporation or any...more
In Roberts v. TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc., 358 Or. 413, __ P.3d ___, 2015 WL 8539902 (Dec. 10, 2015), the Oregon Supreme Court unanimously held that a Delaware corporation’s “exclusive-forum” bylaw, which required that all...more
Section 145(k) of the Delaware General Corporation Law is quite clear and emphatic about which court may hear actions for indemnification or advancement of expenses: The Court of Chancery is hereby vested with exclusive...more
A great deal of attention has been paid over the past few years to efforts made by corporations to control in which courts fiduciary duty and other claims may be brought against directors and officers. Effective August 1,...more
There has been considerable interest over the last year about whether a fee-shifting provision in the charter or bylaws of a Delaware corporation is enforceable. On Thursday, June 11, 2015, the Delaware House of...more
Current Delaware law permits a Delaware corporation to adopt a bylaw specifying an exclusive forum other than Delaware to litigate intra-corporate disputes, so long as there is a logical connection between the forum selected...more
The Corporation Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association has approved, in substantially the form proposed by the Delaware Corporate Council, amendments to the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (DGCL)...more
In This Issue: - Delaware Proposal Banning Fee-Shifting and Permitting Exclusive Forum Provisions - SEC Charges Insiders for Failure to Update Schedule 13D Disclosures - CBOE Proposes Amendments to...more
Much has been written of late about the enforceability of exclusive forum bylaws. What happens when the forum isn’t a court, but an arbitration? Does it make any difference if the arbitration bylaw is adopted after a...more
“Exclusive forum” bylaws and charter provisions are a powerful tool for managing the risk of parallel corporate governance litigation against a company and its directors in multiple forums, allowing stockholders to bring such...more
In City of Providence v. First Citizens BancShares Inc. et al., C.A. No. 9795-CB (Del. Ch. Sept. 8, 2014), the Delaware Court of Chancery (Bouchard, C.) held that a minority shareholder's claims against a Delaware...more
Public companies are increasingly enacting “exclusive forum” bylaws — designating a single forum for intra-corporate disputes — as a way to limit the risk and burden of multi-jurisdictional stockholder litigation. This trend...more
In a closely-watched case with implications for corporations across the nation, Chancellor Andre Bouchard of the Delaware Court of Chancery has issued an opinion enforcing a forum-selection bylaw that requires intra-corporate...more
Public companies increasingly are adopting “exclusive forum” bylaws and charter provisions that require their stockholders to go to specified courts if they want to make fiduciary duty or other intra-corporate claims against...more