In connection with an M&A transaction, in In Re Pattern Energy Group Inc. Stockholders Litigation the Delaware Court of Chancery determined that that the plaintiff had stated a claim against the director defendants for breach...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
In In re Towers Watson & Co. Stockholders Litigation, 2019 WL 3334521 (Del. Ch. July 25, 2019), the Delaware Court of Chancery applied the business judgment rule to dismiss a stockholder suit challenging the $18 billion...more
Under Corwin v. KKR Financial Holdings LLC1 and its progeny, “when disinterested, fully informed, uncoerced stockholders approve a transaction absent a looming conflicted controller,” the irrebuttable business judgment rule...more
In the recent decision of Morrison v. Berry, No. 445, 2017 (Del. July 9, 2018), the Delaware Supreme Court issued an opinion of import in connection with the Corwin doctrine. In Morrison, the High Court reversed a dismissal...more
Earlier this year, the Delaware Supreme Court held that Corwin deference was not warranted where a recommendation statement to stockholders disclosed that a founder and board chairman abstained from recommending in favor of...more
On March 9, 2018, Vice Chancellor Joseph R. Slights III, of the Delaware Court of Chancery, dismissed a stockholder class action complaint seeking damages for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty by directors of Rouse...more
On December 29, 2017, the Delaware Court of Chancery declined to extend the ruling in Corwin by finding that the approval of a merger by a vote of the disinterested stockholders does not act as an impediment to a properly...more
This is an important decision if only because it explains a further limitation on the Corwin rule that an informed uncoerced stockholder vote insulates a corporate transaction from attack. First, the decision explains when a...more
What is the most significant recent development in Delaware, from a litigation standpoint? The most significant recent development impacting deal litigation in Delaware is the continuing evolution of the Corwin doctrine,...more