Nonprofit Basics: Amending Nonprofit Corporation Bylaws
Litigation developments: federal forum provisions
Meritas Capability Webinar - Controlling Where to Fight and Who Pays for it?
Rules for rewarding 'super' condo board members
Ten years ago, I questioned in this space whether a Delaware forum selection charter provision would survive constitutional scrutiny if it involved a de facto waiver of a jury trial...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently agreed to rehear en banc the dismissal—based on a Delaware exclusive forum selection bylaw provision—of a shareholder derivative suit asserting violations of Section 14(a) of the...more
S’holders Rep. Serv. LLC v. DC Capital Partners Fund II, L.P., C.A. No. 2021-0465-KSJM (Del. Ch. Feb. 14, 2022) - While the Court of Chancery has exclusive subject matter jurisdiction over claims and remedies sounding in...more
The Seventh Circuit issued a resounding message: Delaware forum selection clauses in corporate bylaws cannot lawfully prevent a plaintiff from bringing claims under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act or the...more
On February 11, 2022, the Vermont Supreme Court revised its analysis in the Snowstone appeal addressing the question of when development triggers Act 250 jurisdiction in so‑called “one-acre towns.” ...more
A recent Seventh Circuit decision in Seafarers Pension Plan v. Bradway may complicate defendants’ ability to use forum-selection bylaws as a basis for dismissal of derivative suits pleading claims under the Securities...more
On January 7, 2022, a split panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed the dismissal of claims under Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) against the...more
As discussed in a previous client alert, The Boeing Company (Boeing) has faced shareholder litigation arising from the fatal crashes of two 737 MAX airplanes. In one such derivative suit filed under Section 14(a) of the...more
In Sciabacucchi v. Salzberg, No. 346, 2019, 2020 WL 1280785 (Del. Mar. 18, 2020), the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a Delaware Court of Chancery (Laster, V.C.) decision declaring invalid a federal forum selection provision...more
Recently, I wrote about Nevada's enactment of legislation that will permit a Nevada corporation to include in its articles of incorporation a provision requiring any, all or certain internal actions must be brought solely or...more
In Drulias v. 1st Century Bancshares, Inc., No. H045049, 2018 WL 6735137 (Cal. App. Dec. 21, 2018), the California Court of Appeal, Sixth Appellate District, affirmed an order staying a stockholder lawsuit brought in the...more
In 2017, courts across this country were split on whether plaintiffs could assert a class action alleging claims under the Securities Act of 1933 (which provides a private right of action against issuers and others for...more
On December 19, 2018, the Delaware Chancery Court held that a business incorporated in Delaware could not use its corporate charter or bylaws to require that its shareholders bring any securities claims under the Securities...more
On December 19, 2018, The Delaware Court of Chancery held in Sciabacucchi v. Salzberg that Delaware corporations cannot use charter or bylaw provisions to mandate that claims under the Securities Act of 1933 (‘33 Act) must be...more
The federal courts of appeals have generally recognized that electric cooperatives can retire patronage capital to their members through means other than annual cash payments. For example, the US Court of Appeals for the...more
Where does your company want to be sued? Of course, the obvious answer is “nowhere.” But in this litigious country that is not realistic. However, to a large extent, companies can chose the forum to decide claims made against...more
The Massachusetts Appeals Court has again upheld the validity of a local conservation commission’s ruling under a local wetlands bylaw notwithstanding that the commission’s partial reliance on the State Wetland Protection Act...more
In adopting an exclusive forum selection bylaw, companies can avoid the cost and complication of multi-forum litigation after an M&A transaction. In response to the wasteful and burdensome trend of multi-forum...more
As we previously discussed (Should Your Board Adopt an Exclusive Forum Bylaw?, July 2013; The Future of Exclusive Forum Bylaws, November 2013), forum selection bylaws (also sometimes called exclusive forum bylaws) have become...more
Public companies are increasingly enacting “exclusive forum” bylaws — designating a single forum for intra-corporate disputes — as a way to limit the risk and burden of multi-jurisdictional stockholder litigation. This trend...more
“Exclusive forum” bylaws and charter provisions are a powerful tool for managing the risk of parallel corporate governance litigation against a company and its directors in multiple forums, allowing stockholders to bring such...more
In City of Providence v. First Citizens Bancshares, Inc., C.A. No. 9795 (Del. Ch. Sep. 8, 2014), Delaware Chancellor Bouchard upheld a bylaw adopted by the board of directors of a corporation incorporated in Delaware...more
When almost 98 percent of takeover transactions valued at more than $100 million result in shareholder litigation, and often such transactions are the subject of multiple lawsuits filed in multiple jurisdictions, it is no...more
On June 25, 2013, Chancellor Strine of the Delaware Court of Chancery upheld bylaws adopted by the boards of directors of Chevron Corporation and FedEx Corporation that designated Delaware as the exclusive forum for...more