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Shareholder Litigation Derivative Suit Duty of Loyalty

Morris James LLP

Chancery Dismisses Oversight Claim Based on Board’s Response to Red Flags

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In re McDonald's Corp. Stockholder Derivative Litig., CA No. 2021-0324-JTL (Del. Ch. March 1, 2023) - A plaintiff can plead an oversight claim against a board by alleging particularized facts to support an inference that...more

The Volkov Law Group

Delaware Court Extends Caremark Duty of Oversight to Senior Officers

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In a far-reaching decision with significant implications, the Delaware Chancery Court recently issued a decision confirming that Caremark duty of oversight obligations extends to senior officers.  This will have an immediate...more

Goodwin

Delaware Court of Chancery Finds for the First Time That Officers’ Fiduciary Duties Include Caremark Duty of Oversight, and That...

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On January 25, 2023, in In re McDonald’s Corporation Stockholder Derivative Litigation, Vice Chancellor Travis Laster of Delaware’s Court of Chancery denied a motion to dismiss a derivative lawsuit against David Fairhurst,...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

The Corporate Guide: Rule 23.1 and Dealing With Stockholders Demanding Derivative Action

What should our board do first when served with a stockholder demand under Rule 23.1? • Directors must determine the legal, financial and factual issues relevant to the board’s response. ...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

In re Boeing: Revisiting Potential Director Liability Exposures

Recent rulings underscore the attention boards of directors and management must continue to pay to the risks faced by companies across all sectors of the economy and their potential impact on business operations...more

Hogan Lovells

Firemen’s Ret. Sys. of St. Louis v. Sorenson: No Caremark liability for data breach - Quarterly Corporate / M&A Decisions update...

Hogan Lovells on

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

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

The Risk of Overlooking Oversight: Recent Caremark Decisions From the Court of Chancery Indicate Closer Judicial Scrutiny and...

In 1996, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued its seminal decision in In re Caremark International Inc. Derivative Litigation, establishing the conditions for director oversight liability under Delaware law. Adopted a decade...more

Benesch

Shareholders Seek to Hold Current and Former SolarWinds Officials Liable for Massive 2020 Security Breach

Benesch on

Investors filed a derivative suit claiming that the company knew about, and failed to mitigate known, existing cybersecurity risks and shortfalls prior to the security breach. In early November, pension funds and...more

BCLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Again Declines to Dismiss a Caremark Oversight Failure Claim

BCLP on

On April 27, 2020, the Delaware Court of Chancery for the third time in a year denied a motion to dismiss a Caremark claim. The case, Hughes v. Hu, involves a derivative claim against the audit committee and officers of a...more

Proskauer - Minding Your Business

Delaware Chancery Holds Early Committee Appointment Necessary to Cleanse Conflict from Corporate Transactions

In Salladay v. Lev, the Delaware Chancery Court elaborated on how early a corporate board must take protective measures to shield a conflicted transaction from entire fairness review. Salladay involved a motion to dismiss a...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Court of Chancery Expands Stockholder Right to Corporate Books and Records

McDermott Will & Emery on

In a recent post-trial opinion, Vice Chancellor Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an important decision regarding stockholder books and records demands under Section 220(b) of the Delaware General Corporation...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Allows Caremark Claim to Proceed Against Directors of Ice Cream Manufacturer Following Listeria Outbreak

In Marchand v. Barnhill, No. 533, 2018, 2019 Del. LEXIS 310 (Del. June 18, 2019), the Delaware Supreme Court (Strine, C.J.) reversed a Delaware Court of Chancery (Slights, V.C.) order dismissing a derivative claim alleging...more

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Allows Caremark Breach of Loyalty Claim To Go Forward

On June 18, in Marchand v. Barnhill, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a ruling by the Delaware Court of Chancery in a shareholder derivative suit alleging a breach of the duty of loyalty. While the standard for a...more

A&O Shearman

M&A Watch — Caremark Unfrozen: Delaware Supreme Court Revisits Oversight Claims

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The Delaware Supreme Court recently took the opportunity to revisit Caremark with its en banc decision in Marchand v. Barnhill, No. 533, 2018 (Del. June 19, 2019). In Marchand, the Court reversed the dismissal of a...more

Dechert LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Reverses Dismissal of Caremark Claim, Finding Lack of Board-Level Oversight and Director Independence

Dechert LLP on

In Marchand v. Barnhill et al. (“Blue Bell”),1 the Delaware Supreme Court on June 19 unanimously reversed the dismissal of a shareholder derivative lawsuit against the members of the board of directors and two officers of...more

A&O Shearman

Reversing A Dismissal, The Delaware Supreme Court Finds The Absence Of Board-Level Monitoring Of "Central Compliance Risks"...

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On June 18, 2019, in a decision authored by Chief Justice Leo E. Strine Jr., the Delaware Supreme Court en banc reversed the dismissal of a stockholder derivative suit against the directors and officers of Blue Bell...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Director Independence and Oversight Obligation in Marchand v. Barnhill

On June 18, 2019, in Marchand v. Barnhill, the Delaware Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Chief Justice Leo E. Strine, Jr. on behalf of a unanimous court, issued a decision reversing the Court of Chancery’s dismissal of...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Court Of Chancery Dismisses Derivative Suit Alleging Tech Company Exposed Itself To Unnecessary Litigation Risk With...

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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

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Requires Bad Faith Disclosure Violations for Demand Futility

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Ellis v. Gonzalez, C.A. No. 2017-0342-SG (Del. Ch. July 10, 2018) - The pre-suit demand on the board requirement for derivative litigation usually is not excused solely by a sufficiently pled disclosure violation....more

Morris James LLP

Court Of Chancery Explains Demand Excusal Based On Knowing Violations Of Law

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Kandell v. NIV, C.A. No. 11812-VCG (Sept. 29, 2017) - Derivative plaintiffs alleging that directors allowed the corporation they serve to violate the law typically face dismissal for failure to make pre-suit demand on the...more

Morris James LLP

Court Of Chancery Upholds Duty Of Care and Loyalty Claims

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H&N Management Group Inc. v Couch, C.A. No. 12847-VCMR (Del. Ch. Aug. 1, 2017) - This is a rare case involving apparent lack of care in approving a conflicted transaction and a failure to employ almost any safeguards to...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Chancery Court Holds That Well-Pled Unocal Claim Does Not Automatically Excuse Pre-Suit Demand

A&O Shearman on

On May 15, 2017, Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III of the Delaware Chancery Court dismissed a shareholder derivative action asserting that the directors of The Williams Companies, Inc. (“Williams”) breached their duty of...more

Morris James LLP

Court Of Chancery Declines To Hold Unocal Claim Automatically Excuses Demand

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A derivative plaintiff who fails to make a pre-suit demand on the board must show why demand is excused using particularized facts. Here, the plaintiff argued that demand was automatically excused by sufficiently pleading a...more

Robinson+Cole Data Privacy + Security Insider

Home Depot Agrees to Settle Data Breach Shareholders’ Suit

In a surprise move late last week, Home Depot has agreed to settle a shareholders derivative suit filed against current and former members of the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Information...more

Snell & Wilmer

Yahoo! Data Breach Results in Another Lawsuit Against Corporate Directors and Officers

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A number of claims have been made against companies’ directors and officers alleging a breach of fiduciary duty for failing to adequately oversee data security programs. To date, the defendants’ oversight of the programs and...more

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