Litigation developments: core M&A and corporate governance doctrines
Compliance Perspectives: Due Diligence and Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO)
The Delaware Court of Chancery issued an order in Palkon v. Maffei on February 20, 2024, holding that a decision by the boards of directors and the controller of TripAdvisor, Inc. (“TripAdvisor”) and Liberty TripAdvisor...more
The Case: A Tesla stockholder sued Tesla's board of directors to rescind a performance-based stock option grant awarded to Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO. The option award was worth a total of $56 billion and offered the opportunity...more
On January 17, 2024, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a significant decision affirming that the Delaware General Corporation Law (the DGCL) does not require companies with multiple classes of common stock to obtain separate...more
The proposed 2023 amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) approved by the Delaware State Bar Association are intended to address a number of practical issues facing corporations and their counsel and to...more
MultiPlan: Chancery court assesses fiduciary duties in the context of de-SPAC transactions - The Delaware Court of Chancery declined to dismiss, at the pleading stage, breach of fiduciary duty claims made against a SPAC's...more
In Tola v. Bryant, No. 16150, 2022 Cal. App. LEXIS 241 (Cal. App. Mar. 24, 2022), the First Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal applied Delaware’s new formulation of the test for determining whether a...more
Below is our Corporate / M&A decisions update covering decisions in the third quarter of 2021. This update is designed to highlight selected important M&A, corporate, and commercial court decisions on a quarterly basis. The...more
On September 23, 2021—in United Food and Commercial Workers v. Zuckerberg—the Delaware Supreme Court endorsed a new universal three-part demand futility test. The decision will likely have far-reaching consequences, including...more
On September 20, 2021, the Delaware Supreme Court overruled its 2006 decision in Gentile v. Rossette, eliminating so-called "dual natured" simultaneous direct and derivative claims for breach of fiduciary duty. The decision...more
Earlier this week, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a significant decision reinforcing Delaware's strong policy favoring private ordering and giving effect to agreements among sophisticated stockholders. The decision...more
The following case (link) should serve as a cautionary tale for directors of Delaware corporations when taking actions that may disenfranchise stockholders, especially in the election of directors. The Delaware Supreme...more
IN RE DELL TECHNOLOGIES INC. CLASS V STOCKHOLDERS LITIGATION There has been a growing deference in Delaware courts for transactions approved by independent special committees and minority stockholders. In the context of a...more
A plaintiff challenging a merger when a majority of the board approving the transaction is disinterested and independent and there is no controlling stockholder on both sides cannot state a cognizable claim of breach of...more
Consistent with trends in recent years, in 2019 Delaware corporation law largely was shaped by post-closing suits for money damages against directors who had approved mergers and acquisitions. Two Delaware Supreme Court...more
This issue focuses on important, developing areas of Delaware corporation law and deal litigation, including recent trends in Delaware corporate disclosure law, the Delaware Supreme Court’s important ruling in Marchand v....more
Board oversight of significant company risk areas and legal compliance deserves renewed attention, as the Delaware Supreme Court recently ruled that monitoring practices that have previously been considered acceptable may...more
A director’s duty to make a good faith effort to oversee the operations and management of a Delaware company is well-established. In a recent case, Marchand v. Barnhill, the Delaware Supreme Court provided guidance to boards...more
The Delaware Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Corwin v. KKR Financial Holdings LLC1 fashioned a powerful defense in post-closing money damages cases for boards of directors by finding that business judgment deference applies...more
Olenik v. Lodzinksi, No. 392, 2018 (Del. Apr. 5, 2019). Under Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corp., 88 A.3d 635 (Del. 2014), deferential business judgment review governs mergers between a controlling stockholder and the controlled...more
In the recent decision of Flood v. Synutra International, Inc., a divided Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Chancery’s dismissal of a challenge to a controlling stockholder’s take-private transaction. The Court in...more
The business and affairs of a Delaware corporation are managed by its board of directors. The board’s managerial oversight includes deciding whether to pursue a claim belonging to the corporation. A stockholder may demand...more
What happens when corporate directors approve their own awards under an equity incentive plan? Under Delaware law, so long as the plan is approved by a majority of the fully informed, uncoerced and disinterested stockholders,...more
The Delaware Supreme Court found in In re Investors Bancorp Stockholders Litigation that director equity grants based on director discretion are subject to an entire fairness standard of review. ...more
On October 12, 2017, the Supreme Court of Delaware affirmed a decision by the Delaware Court of Chancery to dismiss breach of fiduciary duty claims against the directors of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (“CCOH”) in...more
Delaware law provides important tools for directors to maintain control of derivative lawsuits.1 One such tool is the “demand requirement” embodied in Court of Chancery Rule 23.1, which requires that before a stockholder acts...more