In recent months, a conversation has emerged as to whether Delaware should remain the favored state of incorporation for business entities. Indeed, many of our clients have asked us whether they should remain in Delaware or...more
4/24/2024
/ Board of Directors ,
California ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Officers ,
Delaware ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Franchise Taxes ,
Nevada ,
Popular ,
Shareholders ,
Texas
The last several months have marked an extremely busy time in Delaware corporate law, with regard to decisions out of the Delaware courts, proposed legislative responses, and shifting market practices. In recent weeks in...more
On February 20, 2024, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an opinion refusing to dismiss stockholder claims challenging the reincorporation of TripAdvisor from Delaware to Nevada and...more
On February 1, 2024, Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a decision refusing to dismiss stockholder claims against directors and officers of Coinbase Global, Inc. over their sales of...more
On October 31, 2023, in Crispo v. Musk, Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a decision addressing an important question that arises in mergers and acquisitions: if one of the parties...more
With the 2023 proxy season now over for most companies, we took a fresh look at recent bylaw and charter amendments at the Silicon Valley 150 (the SV150) to better understand how companies are addressing i) new Rule 14a-19,...more
On June 27, 2023, Vice Chancellor Lori Will of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a much-anticipated decision addressing the obligations of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company (Disney) in overseeing Disney’s...more
6/30/2023
/ Board of Directors ,
Books & Records ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Disney ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Florida ,
Gay Rights ,
Governor DeSantis ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders
Earlier today, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an important ruling concluding that two companies with multiple classes of common stock were not required, under the Delaware statute,...more
On March 15, 2023, Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a rare post-trial decision finding a CEO personally liable for millions of dollars in damages for breaching his fiduciary...more
In an important decision addressing an issue of first impression, the Delaware Court of Chancery determined that corporate officers owe a fiduciary duty of oversight under Delaware law. The case, In re McDonald’s Corporation...more
On November 17, 2022, Glass Lewis released its 2023 U.S. Policy Guidelines (U.S. Guidelines) and its 2023 ESG Initiatives Policy Guidelines (ESG Guidelines), effective for shareholder meetings on or after January 1, 2023. On...more
12/14/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Shareholders
During an M&A process, the seller and its stockholders may consider whether it would be beneficial to exercise any drag-along rights under its stockholder agreements or equity plans. Drag-along rights generally allow a subset...more
On July 29, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a noteworthy decision confirming the broad application of the "MFW" framework—based on the Delaware Supreme Court's decision in Kahn v. M & F Worldwide Corp., 88 A.3d 635...more
We are pleased to present the 2021 Delaware Corporate Law and Litigation Year in Review. A number of Delaware law and related corporate governance developments occurred in 2021 that should be of significant interest to...more
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently addressed whether an outside director’s use of another entity’s email account would require the director to turn over emails from that account in stockholder litigation relating to his...more
Last month, Delaware's new Chancellor Kathaleen S. McCormick issued a decision largely dismissing challenges to board action after finding that the plaintiff's emails to the board constituted pre-suit litigation demands, and...more
Last week, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a key decision addressing stockholders' rights to access books and records under Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Because the Supreme Court rarely weighs in on...more
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently denied two books and records demands made by stockholders of Facebook, Inc. that sought to investigate alleged wrongdoing surrounding Facebook's executive compensation practices at a...more
In a 137-page post-trial opinion, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled that an activist stockholder of PLX Technology (PLX) had acted through a principal who served on the PLX board of...more
10/25/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Activist Investors ,
Aiding and Abetting ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Mergers ,
Sale of Assets ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently addressed important issues concerning the information rights of directors designated by a significant stockholder, as well as a board committee's ability to withhold information from...more
On December 14, 2017, the Delaware Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated opinion in the Dell appraisal case, Dell, Inc. v. Magnetar Global Event Driven Master Fund Ltd., affirming in part, and reversing in part, the...more
On December 11, 2017, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a decision that will be important for companies looking to implement measures to extend or make changes to dual-class voting structures and for companies with...more
On May 14, 2015, the Delaware Supreme Court issued its decision in In re Cornerstone Therapeutics Inc., S'holder Litig., clarifying that damages claims against independent directors can be dismissed where: (1) an applicable...more
On September 4, 2014, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued two lengthy post-trial opinions, both authored by Vice Chancellor John W. Noble, finding that recapitalization or restructuring transactions did not satisfy the...more