With the whirlwind of recent events threatening Delaware’s standing as the preeminent jurisdiction for incorporation in America, press coverage understandably has centered around certain high-profile billionaires and the...more
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
On January 30, 2024, the Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery struck down the $55.8 billion compensation plan that Tesla, Inc.’s board of directors had granted to Tesla’s well-known CEO, Elon Musk, finding that the...more
2/7/2024
/ Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Judgment Rule ,
Compensation Committee ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Elon Musk ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Independent Directors ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Tesla
On March 1, 2023, in In re McDonald’s Corporation Stockholder Derivative Litigation, Vice Chancellor Travis Laster of Delaware’s Court of Chancery granted a motion to dismiss derivative claims against McDonald’s directors...more
3/8/2023
/ Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Judgment Rule ,
Caremark claim ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Governance ,
Derivative Suit ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fraudulent Inducement ,
Internal Investigations ,
McDonalds ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Shareholder Litigation
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
1/31/2023
/ Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Caremark claim ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Governance ,
Derivative Suit ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
McDonalds ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Shareholder Litigation
On September 23, 2021, in United Food and Commercial Workers Union v. Zuckerberg et al., the Delaware Supreme Court restated and refined the demand futility test for bringing shareholder derivative claims when it affirmed the...more
A great deal of attention has been paid over the past few years to efforts made by corporations to control in which courts fiduciary duty and other claims may be brought against directors and officers. Effective August 1,...more
In two recent rulings, the New York Supreme Court rejected settlements arising from lawsuits in which plaintiff stockholders challenged the defendant public companies’ merger-related disclosures. The court in each case...more