Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 167: Listen and Learn -- Direct and Derivative Actions (Corporations)
Board Diversity Podcast
Securities Litigation and Disclosure Issues
Podcast: CFTC Issues LIBOR Transition Relief for Swaps
Bricklayers Pension Fund of W. Pa. v. Brinkley, C.A. No. 2022-1118-MTZ (Del. Ch. July 12, 2024) - In derivative cases where a stockholder-plaintiff has not made a pre-suit demand on the board of directors, demand futility...more
In re Kraft Heinz Demand Refused Derivative Stockholder Litig., Consol. C.A. No. 2022-0398-LWW (Del. Ch. July 19, 2024) - By making a demand, a stockholder-plaintiff tacitly concedes that the board can impartially consider...more
Under California Penal Code Section 496(a) a person who buys or receives any property that has been stolen or that has been obtained in any manner constituting theft or extortion, knowing the property to be so stolen or...more
When a shareholder sues derivatively, the shareholder is seeking relief not for itself, but for the corporation. Therefore, it should be expected that the shareholder is not free to compromise or dismiss the suit absent...more
Delaware corporations are not permitted to pursue profits by violating the law. Under Caremark and its progeny, directors’ fiduciary duties include the good faith obligation to oversee and monitor the corporation’s compliance...more
In a recent post, Professor Stephen Bainbridge discusses the question of when a controlling shareholder owes fiduciary duties to minority shareholders. Knowing when controlling shareholder owes fiduciary duties is one thing,...more
The Delaware Supreme Court’s recent decision in In re Match Group, Inc. Derivative Litigation (April 4, 2024) addressed two issues of significance to transactions of Delaware corporations involving their controlling...more
In re Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation Derivative Litigation, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, sitting en banc, overruled its prior decision in Blasband v. Rales that applied an...more
Many corporations pay significant amounts for directors and officers liability policies. Commonly referred to as D&O policies, these policies usually involve three sides. Directors and officers are likely to have the most...more
Last year, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster famously held that officers could be subject to liability under the Caremark doctrine. In re McDonald’s Corp., 289 A.3d 343 (Del. Ch. Jan. 26, 2023). The Caremark doctrine...more
Harper v. Sievert, C.A. No. 2022-0819-SG (Del. Ch. May 31, 2024). A stockholder plaintiff brought derivative claims alleging that current and former directors of T-Mobile US, Inc. were liable for aggregating customers’...more
City of Sarasota Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Inovalon Holdings Inc., No. 305, 2023 (Del. May 1, 2024). The Delaware Supreme Court’s decision in Khan v. M & F Worldwide Corp. (“MFW”) established a cleansing process for a...more
A new report by Cornerstone Research, a top consulting and expert testimony firm, highlights recent trends in settlements of derivative lawsuits brought in parallel to securities class actions....more
On August 14, 2024, Judge Michael T. Liburdi of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona granted with leave to amend a motion to dismiss a shareholder derivative suit brought in the name of the company, a...more
The authors examine settlement outcomes of derivative lawsuits linked to securities class actions, focusing on 110 cases associated with securities class action settlements between 2019 and 2023....more
In Kahn v. M&F Worldwide, 88 A.3d 635 (Del. 2014) (MFW), the Delaware Supreme Court ruled that a controlling stockholder transaction involving a freeze-out merger, which is structured to include approval by a well-functioning...more
All empires eventually decline. For decades, Delaware has held the crown as the premier state of incorporation for domestic companies (and many foreign companies seeking a foothold in the United States capital markets). But...more
Twenty-four years ago, the Delaware Supreme Court clarified that de novo review was the appropriate standard of review for the Court of Chancery’s dismissal of a derivative case for failure to plead demand futility. Brehm v....more
Boards of Delaware corporations control the company’s assets, which includes by default derivative claims for breach of fiduciary duty against the company’s directors and officers. When derivative claims survive dismissal...more
The power to bring a claim for breach of duty causing injury to a Delaware corporation resides with the board of directors. It is part of their duty under Section 141(a) of the Delaware General Corporation Law to manage the...more
In re Oracle Corp. Deriv. Litig., Consol. C.A. No. 2017-0337-SG (Del. Ch. Feb. 7, 2024) - Under the mootness rule, a stockholder plaintiff can be awarded attorneys’ fees when the plaintiff’s litigation efforts result in...more
Tornetta v. Musk, et al., C.A. 2018-0408-KSJM (Del. Ch. Jan. 30, 2024) - Stockholders of Tesla, Inc. brought a derivative action against Elon Musk and six individual Tesla directors, alleging that the directors breached...more
Palkon v. Maffei, C.A. 2023-0449-JTL (Del. Ch. Feb. 20, 2024) - This decision arose out of TripAdivor’s conversion from a Delaware corporation into a Nevada corporation. The company’s CEO and Chair had voting control and...more
A recent ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Anthony J. Battaglia addresses whether demand futility is an affirmative defense that must be asserted in an answer or raised in a motion to dismiss. In re Franklin Wireless, 2024...more
Like many questions in the law, the answer to the question of whether a member of a California nonprofit corporation may maintain a derivative action is "it depends"....more