Episode 322 -- Checking in on Caremark Cases
In a recent case, Bricklayers Pension Fund of Western Pennsylvania (derivatively on behalf of Centene Corporation) v Brinkley (Centene), Delaware's Court of Chancery dismissed “Caremark duty claims”—named after the 1996 case...more
In the first quarter of 2024, Delaware courts issued several noteworthy opinions. The Delaware Supreme Court ruled in In re Fox Corporation/Snap Inc. that corporations do not need to seek votes from each stockholder class to...more
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
In Clem et al. v. Skinner, the Delaware Court of Chancery granted a motion Caremark claims against the directors of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.’s for failure to plead demand futility. The court found that demand was not...more
Over the last ten years, we have seen a marked shift from the Delaware Chancery Court chipping away at corporate board member liability claims. In a number of seminal cases involving Boeing airplane crashes (In re the Boeing...more
Segway Inc. v. Hong Cai, C.A. No. 2022-1110-LWW (Del. Ch. Ct. Dec. 14, 2023) - The Caremark doctrine recognizes the duty of oversight for directors of Delaware corporations. Under In re McDonald's Corp. Stockholder...more
On February 19, 2024, Vice Chancellor Lori Will of the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed a derivative breach of fiduciary duty action against nominal defendant Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (the “Company”) and its board...more
In the United States, corporate directors and, as confirmed by the Delaware Court in McDonald’s Corp. Stockholder Derivative Litigation (McDonald), corporate officers owe, as a subset of their duty of loyalty, a duty to...more
In Lebanon County Employees’ Retirement Fund v. Collis, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed the Delaware Court of Chancery’s dismissal of Caremark claims against the directors of AmerisourceBergen Corporation that arose from...more
In Segway, Inc. v. Cai, the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed a breach of fiduciary duty claim for failure to allege “sufficient facts to support a reasonable inference that the fiduciary acted in bad faith.” The plaintiff...more
A recent opinion from the Delaware Supreme Court could be viewed by some as expanding plaintiffs’ ability to viably plead a duty of oversight (or “Caremark”) claim against directors. In Lebanon County Employees’ Retirement...more
In Segway Inc. v. Hong Cai, 2023 Del. Ch. LEXIS 643 (Del. Ch. Dec. 14, 2023), the Delaware Court of Chancery (Will, V.C.) dismissed a claim for breach of fiduciary duty brought by Segway Inc. (the “Company”) against its...more
During a panel at the October 2023 Berkeley Fall Forum on Corporate Governance, Delaware Court of Chancery Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick and Vice Chancellor Paul Fioravanti, along with lawyers Shannon Eagan (Cooley),...more
The decision articulates the standard for plaintiffs asserting derivative claims based on an alleged failure of oversight by directors and officers of California companies. Nearly three decades ago in the seminal case In...more
Over the years, I have commented on the fact that the California Court of Appeal has yet to apply In re Caremark International Inc., 698 A.2d 959 (Del. Ch. 1996) to the directors of a California corporation. Last Friday,...more
In re McDonald's Corp. Stockholder Derivative Litig., CA No. 2021-0324-JTL (Del. Ch. March 1, 2023) - A plaintiff can plead an oversight claim against a board by alleging particularized facts to support an inference that...more
A claim for breach of the duty of oversight is known as a Caremark claim, after the landmark Delaware Court of Chancery decision in In re Caremark International Inc. Derivative Litigation (1996). Since then, Delaware courts...more
In this past year, we saw an uptick in in-person court proceedings as the effects of the pandemic subsided, a decrease in pandemic-related litigation, and a return to many of the core issues facing Delaware companies...more
In a posting on the Business Law Prof Blog, Professor Stefan J. Padfield recently highlighted a complaint filed by America First Legal Foundation with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The complaint alleges...more
On February 22, 2023, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero of the Southern District of New York denied a motion to dismiss a putative class action brought by purchasers of a non-fungible token (NFT) against Dapper Labs, Inc....more
In a recent decision, the Delaware Court of Chancery determined for the first time that corporate officers owe a duty of oversight under Delaware Law. The case, In re McDonald’s Corporation Stockholder Derivative Litigation,...more
Here we have another in a string of McDonald’s cases—all of them arising out of workplace misconduct at McDonald’s, none even dipping its toe into employment law. First, you’ll remember, there were settled charges brought by...more
In an era of increasing cyberattacks by varying threat actors, the board's oversight of cybersecurity risks remains a key responsibility. In two recent cases, the Delaware Court of Chancery (Chancery Court) dismissed Caremark...more
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