The Delaware Supreme Court issued a highly anticipated en banc decision in Rutledge v. Clearway Energy Group LLC on February 27, 2026, answering two certified questions from the Court of Chancery and holding that amendments...more
3/5/2026
/ Appellate Courts ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Corporate Governance ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Elon Musk ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Judicial Authority ,
Safe Harbors ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
State Constitutions ,
State of Incorporation
In January 2018, Tesla granted a “moonshot” award to Elon Musk, its founder, chair, and CEO. The award represented the largest equity award ever granted to a public company executive, anticipated to have an approximate value...more
12/23/2025
/ Appeals ,
Board of Directors ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Corporate Governance ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Elon Musk ,
En Banc Review ,
Equity Compensation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Rescission ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Tesla
On September 17, 2025, the SEC issued a long-awaited policy statement “to inform the public that the presence of a provision requiring arbitration of investor claims arising under the Federal securities laws will not impact...more
9/23/2025
/ Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Policy Statement ,
Registration Statement ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Securities Regulation
Texas has enacted significant legislation in the past few months designed to attract more corporations to its state and challenge Delaware’s dominance as the preferred state for incorporation. We are now seeing the first...more
7/28/2025
/ Amended Legislation ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporations Code ,
Derivative Suit ,
Dormant Commerce Clause ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
First Amendment ,
Glass Lewis ,
New Legislation ,
Pending Litigation ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders ,
State of Incorporation
On July 21, 2025, the California Supreme Court issued an opinion in EpicentRx, Inc. v. Superior Court of San Diego County, overturning the lower courts’ decision to decline enforcement of a forum selection clause requiring...more
Nevada advanced its quest to challenge Delaware as the go-to state for incorporation on May 30, 2025, when Gov. Joe Lombardo signed significant amendments to the Nevada Revised Statutes that govern corporations there....more
6/5/2025
/ Articles of Incorporation ,
Business Entities ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporations Code ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
General Corporation Law ,
Incorporation ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Shareholders ,
State of Incorporation
Not to be outdone by Delaware and Texas, the Nevada Senate voted unanimously on May 21, 2025, to adopt Assembly Bill No. 239 (AB 239), which provides for significant amendments to the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) governing...more
5/29/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Amended Legislation ,
Board of Directors ,
Constitutional Amendment ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporations Code ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Mergers ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Shareholders ,
State Constitutions ,
State of Incorporation
Delaware has long been the jurisdiction of choice for corporations, but certain recent controversial judicial decisions have resulted in a number of high-profile companies reincorporating (or considering reincorporation) into...more
On March 25, 2025, Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer signed into law significant amendments to §§ 144 and 220 the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL)....more
On March 14, 2025, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit lifted a lower court’s preliminary injunction blocking key provisions of President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at ending...more
On February 3, 2025, the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, the American Association of University Professors, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, and the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore...more
2/27/2025
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fifth Amendment ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Separation of Powers ,
Trump Administration
On February 17, 2025, Senate Bill No. 21 was introduced in the Delaware State Senate to amend the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL)....more
2/24/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Board of Directors ,
Business Entities ,
Complex Corporate Transactions ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Corporate Governance ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Directors ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Interested Parties ,
Mergers ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Safe Harbors ,
Shareholder Rights ,
Shareholders
This case stems from the proposed reincorporations of Tripadvisor, Inc. and Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. from Delaware to Nevada, which were first presented to the corporations’ respective stockholders for approval in...more
2/7/2025
/ Appeals ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Delaware ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Securities Litigation ,
Shareholder Approval ,
Shareholders ,
TripAdvisor
On October 22, 2024, the SEC charged two current reporting companies, Unisys Corp. and Check Point Software Technologies, and two former public companies, Mimecast Limited and Avaya Holdings Corp., with making materially...more
10/31/2024
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Form 8-K ,
Internal Controls ,
Misleading Statements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Security and Privacy Controls
On August 6, the SEC filed its much-anticipated legal brief in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals supporting its controversial Climate Rules and responding to the arguments laid out in petitioners’ consolidated petitions for...more
8/22/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Amicus Briefs ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
First Amendment ,
Pending Litigation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Statutory Authority
On July 17, 2024, Delaware Gov. John Carney signed into law significant amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL), which will become effective on August 1, 2024. The amendments were articulated in Delaware...more
7/25/2024
/ Amended Legislation ,
Board of Directors ,
Commercial Contracts ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Governance ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Effective Date ,
Governor Carney ,
New Legislation ,
Shareholder Activism ,
Shareholder Approval ,
Shareholders ,
Shareholders' Agreements
Background on Moonshot Award Practices -
In the years leading up to the slowdown in the IPO markets in late 2021, it had become increasingly common for high-growth technology companies to grant large equity incentive...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, the leading proxy voting advisory firms in the United States, have announced updates and clarifications for their voting guidelines for the U.S. market for the 2024...more
1/4/2024
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Shareholders
California Adopts Bill Regulating Net Zero, Carbon Offset Disclosures -
On October 7, 2023, California adopted new requirements that will impact the voluntary carbon offset market and companies making certain emissions...more
We will be discussing the events that took place in securities litigation, corporate/statutory developments and SEC rulemaking during 2022 and provide insight into anticipated trends and considerations for 2023....more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, the leading proxy advisors in the United States, have announced updates and clarifications for their voting guidelines for the 2023 proxy season. Their voting...more
12/6/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Climate Change ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Overboarding ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Voting Rights
On May 13, 2022, the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County held that SB 826, the law requiring companies with headquarters in California to have a prescribed number of women on their boards of directors, is...more
On April 1, 2022, the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles granted the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment in a case challenging the legality of AB 979 under the California Constitution...more
4/5/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Business Litigation ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Governor Newsom ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
LGBTQ ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Municipalities ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
State and Local Government ,
State Constitutions
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, the leading proxy advisors in the United States, have announced updates and clarifications for their voting guidelines for the 2022 proxy season. Their voting...more
12/10/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Glass Lewis ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proxy Advisors ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
On November 17, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules requiring the use of universal proxy cards in contested director elections as discussed in Release No. 34-93596 (the Adopting Release). Universal...more
11/30/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Contested Elections ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure ,
New Rules ,
Nominee Directors ,
Proxy Season ,
Proxy Voting ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Universal Proxy Cards