In In re MFW Shareholders Litigation, on May 29 the Delaware Court of Chancery granted summary judgment in favor of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc. in a class action suit brought by former stockholders of M&F Worldwide...more
In this issue: - SEC Issues FAQs on Conflict Minerals and Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers - Delaware Chancery Court Applies Business Judgment Rule to Going Private Transaction with Controlling...more
A recent decision of the Delaware Court of Chancery, In re MFW Shareholder Litigation, held that the business judgment rule standard of review applies in cases where a going-private transaction has been conditioned on both...more
Over the past several years, shareholder litigation challenging mergers and acquisitions has become a virtual certainty in any sizeable deal. A recent decision from a state court in Pittsburgh illustrates how Pennsylvania law...more
Addressing an unsettled area of Delaware law, the Delaware Court of Chancery (the “Chancery Court”) revisited the appropriate standard of review for a going-private merger with a controlling stockholder....more
On May 29, 2013, In In re MFW Shareholders Litigation, C.A. No. 6566-CS (Del. Ch. May 29, 2013), the Court of Chancery decided a novel question of law, holding that the business judgment rule applies to a controlling...more
We previously discussed how important a special negotiating committee of independent directors can be when defending against stockholder challenges to change-of-control transactions – particularly for going private...more
On May 29, 2013, the Delaware Court of Chancery held in In re MFW Shareholders Litigation that a going-private merger with a controlling stockholder will be subject to the deferential business judgment rule, rather than the...more
In a decision with important implications for structuring going-private transactions, Chancellor Leo E. Strine, Jr. of the Delaware Court of Chancery this week applied the business judgment rule — not the more rigorous entire...more
Julie Gilman Veronese sued Lucasfilm Ltd. in 2009 after she was hired—and then fired—as an assistant to the estate manager at George Lucas’s San Anselmo estate. She claimed she was fired because she was pregnant....more
Down-Round Equity Financings and Subsequent Exit Transactions - Best Practices for Preferred Investors and their Board Designees - Today’s middle market private equity landscape is as diverse and varied as it has ever...more
In This Issue: - SC18915- Misiti, LLC v. Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America - SC18840- New England Road, Inc. v. Planning & Zoning Commission - SC18804- Cordero v. University of Connecticut...more
In this Opinion, the Court of Chancery denied, in large part, defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ claims challenging several allegedly self-interested and dilutive transactions....more
The Delaware Court of Chancery held that claims for breach of statutory and fiduciary duties against a custodian appointed under Section 226 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) failed as a matter of law because...more
In Scheenstra v. California Dairies, Inc., No. F062768, ___ Cal. Rptr. 3d ___, 2013 WL 363148 (Cal. App. 5th Dist. Jan. 30, 2013), the California Court of Appeal, Fifth District, affirmed the judgment of the California...more
Decisions regarding executive compensation fall squarely within the discretion of a public company’s board of directors. Recently, however, plaintiffs’ firms have been trying to invade the board’s purview by bringing...more
In a recent letter opinion, the Delaware Chancery Court dismissed an action brought under 8 Del. C. §145(e) for advancement of legal fees and expenses. Plaintiff David F. Miller III previously served as president, chief...more
On January 14, 2013, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed a trial court's denial of attorneys' fees in connection with a corporate waste claim filed against corporate board members for the board's decision to pay certain...more
As one calendar year ends and the next begins, it is natural to look back to take an inventory of lessons learned and to look forward in an attempt to implement such lessons. The year 2012 certainly had its fair share of...more
When a shareholder makes a demand on a company to pursue litigation, the company’s board can look to generally well-developed law to determine how to evaluate the demand. Though there is no one particular procedure a board...more
In an era of intense investor scrutiny and SEC rulemaking regarding executive compensation, a recent decision by the Delaware Court of Chancery raises questions as to the protections afforded to directors when granting...more
On December 10, 2012, in Veronese v. Lucasfilm Ltd., a California Court of Appeal overturned a Marin County jury’s verdict against Lucasfilm based on its finding that several errors in jury instructions prejudicially affected...more
Justice Russell C. Ostrander: “judges are not business experts.” Dodge v. Ford Motor Co., 204 Mich. 459, 508 (1919) A few days ago, I wrote about U.S. District Court Judge Dale S. Fischer’s refusal to extend the...more
Yesterday, I wrote about a recent memorandum opinion by U.S. District Court Judge Dale S. Fischer that led to a jury verdict awarding nearly $169 million in damages against three former corporate officers. Among other things,...more
Last Friday, the jury in FDIC v. Van Dellem (C.D. Cal. Case No. CV 10-4915 DSF (SHx)) returned a verdict totalling nearly $169 million against three former officers of the home builder division of IndyMac Bank, F.S.B. The...more
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