In this issue, we discuss Delaware court developments, including the first-ever dismissal of a SPAC disclosure complaint, as well as rulings pertaining to financial advisor conflict and disclosure law, state laws involving...more
6/26/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Board of Directors ,
Business Judgment Rule ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Corporate Governance ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Disclosure ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Mergers ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation
Delaware case law recognizes that directors and officers owe a duty of oversight, and failure to adequately exercise such duty may result in liability. Such claims — known as “Caremark claims” after the seminal decision in In...more
With all the SPAC activity and scrutiny over the past several years, it was only a matter of time before the Delaware courts had an opportunity to weigh in on SPAC stockholder litigation.
Early last year, in January...more
1/31/2023
/ Breach of Duty ,
Corwin Doctrine ,
Delaware ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Mergers ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Right of Redemption ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
In September 2021, in United Food and Commercial Workers Union v. Zuckerberg, the Delaware Supreme Court embraced the Court of Chancery’s suggestion that the analysis for evaluating demand futility in derivative cases should...more
On January 3, 2022, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a novel decision arising from a challenge to a transaction involving a special purpose acquisition company, commonly referred to as a SPAC, in In re MultiPlan Corp....more
In 2021, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued two decisions addressing when a contractual party’s affiliates are bound to restrictive covenants in an agreement. In the first case, Sixth Street Partners Management Company,...more
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
In 2019, the Delaware Supreme Court issued Marchand v. Barnhill, which was soon followed by the Court of Chancery’s opinion in In re Clovis Oncology Derivative Litigation. Both rulings sustained derivative claims for breach...more
In Salzberg v. Sciabacucchi, No. 346, 2019 (Del. Mar. 18, 2020), the Delaware Supreme Court upheld the validity of corporate charter provisions designating federal courts as the exclusive forum for the litigation of claims...more
On March 18th, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a key decision upholding the validity of corporate charter provisions that designate federal courts as the exclusive forum for the litigation of 1933 Act claims. This opinion...more
In March 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Cyan, Inc. v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund, 138 S. Ct. 1061 (2018), resolved a jurisprudential split among federal courts and held that certain federal securities claims...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
On February 20, 2019, Skadden held a webinar titled “2019 M&A and Corporate Litigation Trends.” The panelists were litigation partner and Delaware litigation practice leader Edward Micheletti and litigation counsel Jenness...more
3/1/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Appraisal Rights ,
Books & Records ,
Business Judgment Rule ,
Bylaws ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corwin Doctrine ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Defense Strategies ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Forum Selection ,
Mergers ,
MFW ,
Minority Shareholders ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Popular ,
Ratification ,
Reversal ,
Section 220 Request ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Shareholder Demands ,
Shareholders ,
Standard of Review
Since the Delaware Supreme Court decided Corwin v. KKR Financial Holdings LLC more than two years ago, there has been an open question as to whether and to what extent the principles affirmed in that decision apply in the...more
5/30/2018
/ Books & Records ,
Breach of Duty ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corwin Doctrine ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Mergers ,
Pleading Standards ,
Revlon Standard ,
Section 220 Request ,
Shareholder Rights ,
Standard of Review
In the recent opinion California State Teachers’ Retirement System v. Alvarez (Walmart), the Delaware Supreme Court addressed the preclusive effect of demand futility decisions rendered by one court on derivative litigation...more
5/29/2018
/ Bribery ,
Collateral Estoppel ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Demand Futility ,
Derivative Suit ,
Due Process ,
Intervenors ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Privity of Contract ,
Section 220 Request ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Wal-Mart
Since its issuance in 2015, the Delaware Supreme Court’s decision in Corwin v. KKR Financial Holdings LLC has been routinely applied, in appropriate circumstances, to dismiss post-closing deal litigation. However, Corwin’s...more
11/27/2017
/ Books & Records ,
Corwin Doctrine ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Derivative Suit ,
Discovery ,
Garner ,
Merger Agreements ,
Mergers ,
Privileged Communication ,
Section 220 Request ,
Shareholder Litigation
Earlier this year, in a consolidated breach of fiduciary duty and appraisal action, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a post-trial opinion that includes many important takeaways for...more
10/22/2015
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Appraisal Rights ,
Bad Faith ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Judgment Rule ,
C-Suite Executives ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
COOs ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Officers ,
Damages ,
Dole Food ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
False Statements ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fraud ,
Joint and Several Liability ,
Mergers ,
Remedies ,
Special Committees ,
Standard of Review ,
Take-Private Transactions ,
Unfair Dealing