News & Analysis as of

Shareholder Litigation Fiduciary Duty

Hogan Lovells

In re Cognizant Technology: Third Circuit adopts de novo review for failure to plead demand futility

Hogan Lovells on

In re Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation Derivative Litigation, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, sitting en banc, overruled its prior decision in Blasband v. Rales that applied an...more

Allen Matkins

Is Your Directors And Officers Liability Coverage Illusory?

Allen Matkins on

Many corporations pay significant amounts for directors and officers liability policies.  Commonly referred to as D&O policies, these policies usually involve three sides.  Directors and officers are likely to have the most...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Holds Plaintiff Fails to Meet Rule 23.1 Pleading Standard, Dismisses Action Arising From T-Mobile Data Hack

Morris James LLP on

Harper v. Sievert, C.A. No. 2022-0819-SG (Del. Ch. May 31, 2024). A stockholder plaintiff brought derivative claims alleging that current and former directors of T-Mobile US, Inc. were liable for aggregating customers’...more

Morris James LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Reverses MFW Dismissal Due to Inadequate Disclosures Regarding Special Committee’s Advisors’ Material...

Morris James LLP on

City of Sarasota Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Inovalon Holdings Inc., No. 305, 2023 (Del. May 1, 2024). The Delaware Supreme Court’s decision in Khan v. M & F Worldwide Corp. (“MFW”) established a cleansing process for a...more

Cooley LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Finally Dismisses a de-SPAC Complaint

Cooley LLP on

Since Vice Chancellor Lori Will’s seminal decision in In re MultiPlan Corp. Stockholders Litigation in January 2022, the Delaware Court of Chancery has seen a wave of lawsuits accusing special purpose acquisition companies...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Addresses Acquirer’s Request For Joint Tortfeasor Settlement Credit

Morris James LLP on

In re Columbia Pipeline Grp. Inc. Merger Litig., Consol. C.A. No. 2018-0484-JTL (Del. Ch. May 15, 2024) - In this post-trial decision, the Court addressed an acquirer’s responsibility for damages suffered by a stockholder...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Determines Certain Suits and Investigations Against Amazon Were Insufficient to Meet Credible Basis Standard to Inspect...

Morris James LLP on

Wong Leung Revocable Tr. v. Amazon.com Inc., C.A. No. 2023-1251-BWD (Del. Ch. May 1, 2024) - In order to inspect books and records under Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, a stockholder-plaintiff must...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Delaware Chancery Court Finds a ~27% Founding Stockholder Is Not a Controller

On July 2, 2024, the Delaware Chancery Court in Sciannella v. AstraZeneca dismissed stockholder claims in connection with the $3 billion merger of Viela Bio and Horizon Therapeutics in 2021. The merger was approved by Viela’s...more

Bennett Jones LLP

Delaware Court Affirms High Threshold for Breach of Directors' Caremark Duties

Bennett Jones LLP on

In a recent case, Bricklayers Pension Fund of Western Pennsylvania (derivatively on behalf of Centene Corporation) v Brinkley (Centene), Delaware's Court of Chancery dismissed “Caremark duty claims”—named after the 1996 case...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Court Of Chancery Holds That Corwin Cleansing Applies To Claims Related To Reduction Of Acquisition Price

A&O Shearman on

On June 21, 2024, Vice Chancellor Nathan A. Cook of the Delaware Court of Chancery granted a motion to dismiss a putative stockholder class action asserting breach of fiduciary duty claims against the officers and directors...more

Woodruff Sawyer

Corporate Barbarians at the Gates: The Attack on Delaware

Woodruff Sawyer on

All empires eventually decline. For decades, Delaware has held the crown as the premier state of incorporation for domestic companies (and many foreign companies seeking a foothold in the United States capital markets). But...more

Foley Hoag LLP

Massachusetts Business Litigation Session Decides Issues of First Impression in Appraisal Rights Action

Foley Hoag LLP on

The Court held that a modification of an existing stock restriction that has a material adverse effect on a shareholder’s ability to transfer their shares automatically triggers the shareholder’s appraisal rights and ability...more

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Dismisses Aiding And Abetting Fraud Claim Against Corporate Officers And Directors On Grounds That A Corporation...

Morris James LLP on

Urvan v. AMMO, Inc., Consol. C.A. No. 2023-0470 PRW (Del. Ch. Feb. 27, 2024, corrected Mar. 14, 2024) - It is an axiom of Delaware law that a corporation acts through its human agents. This principle informs the causes of...more

Hogan Lovells

Palkon v. Maffei: Court permits suit challenging conversion to Nevada corporation

Hogan Lovells on

In Palkon v. Maffei, the Delaware Court of Chancery permitted stockholders to pursue claims that the board of directors of TripAdvisor breached their fiduciary duties in converting TripAdvisor from a Delaware corporation to a...more

Allen Matkins

Nevada Supreme Court Rejects The "Uncontrollable Child" Theory Of Parent-Subsidiary Relationships

Allen Matkins on

Nevada famously limits directors and officers from personal liability.  However, it would be an overstatement to say that Nevada is a "liability free" jurisdiction.  For example, the Nevada Supreme Court recently held that...more

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Grants Special Litigation Committee’s Dismissal of 'Carvana' Derivative Action

Morris James LLP on

Boards of Delaware corporations control the company’s assets, which includes by default derivative claims for breach of fiduciary duty against the company’s directors and officers. When derivative claims survive dismissal...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Delaware Court Affirms Foundational Principle of Directors’ Fiduciary Duties

At a time when Delaware corporate law is under attack for allegedly becoming unpredictable, the Delaware Court of Chancery on April 30 re-affirmed a fundamental tenet of fiduciary duty – namely, that directors’ fiduciary...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Dismisses Derivative Action Based on Plaintiff’s Failure to Allege Particularized Facts Demonstrating Demand Futility

Morris James LLP on

The power to bring a claim for breach of duty causing injury to a Delaware corporation resides with the board of directors. It is part of their duty under Section 141(a) of the Delaware General Corporation Law to manage the...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Denies Attorneys’ Fees for Appointment of New Directors Following Assertion of Derivative Claims

Morris James LLP on

In re Oracle Corp. Deriv. Litig., Consol. C.A. No. 2017-0337-SG (Del. Ch. Feb. 7, 2024) - Under the mootness rule, a stockholder plaintiff can be awarded attorneys’ fees when the plaintiff’s litigation efforts result in...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Invalidates Elon Musk’s $55.8 Billion Pay Package

Morris James LLP on

Tornetta v. Musk, et al., C.A. 2018-0408-KSJM (Del. Ch. Jan. 30, 2024) - Stockholders of Tesla, Inc. brought a derivative action against Elon Musk and six individual Tesla directors, alleging that the directors breached...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Upholds Challenge to TripAdvisor’s Conversion from a Delaware Corporation into a Nevada Entity

Morris James LLP on

Palkon v. Maffei, C.A. 2023-0449-JTL (Del. Ch. Feb. 20, 2024) - This decision arose out of TripAdivor’s conversion from a Delaware corporation into a Nevada corporation. The company’s CEO and Chair had voting control and...more

Goodwin

Delaware Supreme Court Holds That Boards Must Satisfy the MFW Framework in Controller Transactions to Obtain Business Judgment...

Goodwin on

In 2014, the Delaware Supreme Court held in Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corp. (“MFW”) that a court will apply the entire fairness standard of review to freeze-out merger transactions between a controlled corporation and its...more

Hogan Lovells

2024 Securities, Shareholder, and M&A Litigation Outlook

Hogan Lovells on

2023 was a busy year, with both the Delaware courts and others, including the U.S. Supreme Court, weighing in on shareholder and M&A litigation issues. The Delaware Court of Chancery issued several notable decisions on issues...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Addresses Pleading-Stage Arguments for Dismissal in LLC Dispute

Morris James LLP on

Principal Growth Strategies LLC v. AGH Parent LLC, C.A. 2019-0431-JTL (Del. Ch. January 25, 2023) - This decision provides helpful guidance to practitioners to address pleading-stage arguments for dismissal. The plaintiff...more

Morgan Lewis

Delaware Court of Chancery Agrees with SLC, Dismisses $1 Billion Suit Against Carvana

Morgan Lewis on

In the case of Carvana Co. Stockholders Litigation, the Delaware Court of Chancery followed the special litigation committee’s (SLC’s) recommendation and dismissed a stockholder complaint alleging that the company’s...more

529 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 22

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide