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
Several recent Delaware decisions have analyzed allegations attempting to plead breach of fiduciary duty claims against executive directors even though the underlying transaction was approved by a...more
While Delaware’s “stay at home” order remains in place amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Delaware Supreme Court and Court of Chancery are still operational, and legal services providers, which are deemed “essential,” may...more
5/12/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Court Closures ,
Court Schedules ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Electronic Filing ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Government Shutdown ,
Law & Motion Hearings ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Statute of Repose ,
Teleconferences ,
Time Extensions ,
Tolling ,
Trial Attorneys
On March 30, 2020, in The Chemours Company v. DowDuPont Inc., et al., C.A. No. 2019-0351-SG (Del. Ch. Mar. 30, 2020), the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an important decision reaffirming bedrock principles of Delaware...more
5/12/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Consent ,
Contract Terms ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Dismissals ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Insolvency ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Parent Corporation ,
Separation Agreement ,
Spinoffs ,
Subsidiaries ,
Unconscionable Contracts
This issue focuses on important, developing areas of Delaware corporation law and deal litigation, including recent trends in Delaware corporate disclosure law, the Delaware Supreme Court’s important ruling in Marchand v....more
11/20/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Appraisal Rights ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Board of Directors ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Corporate Executives ,
Corporate Officers ,
Corwin Doctrine ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Deal Price ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Directors ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Fair Valuation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Adviser ,
Good Faith ,
Market Price ,
Material Misstatements ,
Mergers ,
MFW ,
Mootness Fee Applications ,
Omissions ,
Oversight Committee ,
Oversight Duties ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Shareholder Votes
Recent Delaware decisions in Williams Companies v. Energy Transfer Equity, L.P., and Akorn, Inc. v. Fresenius Kabi AG, examined contract provisions requiring “commercially reasonable efforts” and “reasonable best efforts” and...more
This issue focuses on important, developing areas of Delaware corporation law and deal litigation, including recent trends involving the Corwin doctrine, the Delaware Supreme Court's decision reaffirming its view that deal...more
The Delaware courts issued a number of significant decisions in 2018 that are likely to have ripple effects throughout 2019. Among them were a series of cases that further developed the parameters of the Corwin and MFW...more
1/24/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Appeals ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Judgment Rule ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Officers ,
Corwin Doctrine ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Directors ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Due Diligence ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Fair Value Standard ,
Forum Selection ,
Internal Affairs Doctrine ,
Market Pricing ,
Material Adverse Effects ,
Mergers ,
MFW ,
Minority Shareholders ,
Pleadings ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities Litigation ,
Shareholder Approval ,
Shareholder Rights ,
Squeeze-Out Mergers ,
Tender Offers ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
On October 1, 2018, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a 246-page post-trial opinion in Akorn, Inc. v. Fresenius Kabi AG, C.A. No. 2018-0300-JTL, that denied the seller’s (Akorn) request...more
10/22/2018
/ Breach of Contract ,
Commercially Reasonable Efforts ,
Contract Drafting ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Contract Termination ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Fraud ,
Material Adverse Effects ,
Merger Agreements ,
Mergers ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Representations and Warranties ,
Specific Performance ,
Whistleblowers
In response to the growing practice of “appraisal arbitrage,” in 2016 Delaware’s General Assembly amended the state’s appraisal statute, Section 262 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. The amendment to Section 262(h)...more
On December 13, 2017, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an opinion, In re Investors Bancorp, Inc. Stockholder Litigation, Case No. 169, holding that, except under limited circumstances, the court will not apply the...more
12/20/2017
/ Appeals ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Judgment Rule ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Equity Plans ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Reversal ,
Self-Interest ,
Shareholder Approval ,
Standard of Review
In 2014, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed in Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corp., 88 A.3d 635 (MFW II), that the business judgment rule would apply to controlling stockholder “squeeze-out” mergers if the transaction is conditioned...more
Recent Delaware Supreme Court and Court of Chancery cases have continued to refine the impact and requirements of Corwin v. KKR Financial Holdings LLC, in which the Delaware Supreme Court held that the business judgment rule...more
5/8/2017
/ Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Burden of Proof ,
Business Judgment Rule ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Irrebuttable Presumptions ,
Mergers ,
Pleading Standards ,
Post-Closing Money Damages ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Standard of Review
This issue focuses on important, developing areas of Delaware corporation law and deal litigation, including the Court of Chancery’s clarification of its evolving views about disclosure-based deal litigation settlements;...more
5/21/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Aiding and Abetting ,
Board of Directors ,
Books & Records ,
Buyouts ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Demand Futility ,
Derivative Suit ,
Disclosure-Based Settlements ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Adviser ,
Mergers ,
Plainly Material Standard ,
Pleadings ,
Securities Litigation ,
Shareholder Demands ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Standard of Review
Recent Delaware cases have helped clarify the limits of what the Court of Chancery will consider in a books-and-records demand under 8 Del. C. § 220, and one case has adopted a novel condition that defendants may seek to...more
5/20/2016
/ Books & Records ,
Breach of Duty ,
Burden of Proof ,
Derivative Suit ,
Dismissals ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Mergers ,
Pleading Standards ,
Shareholder Demands ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Statute of Limitations
A trio of opinions from the Delaware Supreme Court, each authored by Chief Justice Leo E. Strine, Jr., has reaffirmed Delaware’s deference to the business judgment of disinterested corporate decision-makers and restored...more
10/23/2015
/ Appeals ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Judgment Rule ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Directors ,
Due Care ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Exculpatory Clauses ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Injunctions ,
Judicial Review ,
Mergers ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Pleadings ,
Revlon ,
Shareholder Votes ,
Vacated