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Fiduciary Duty Board of Directors Breach of Contract

Goodwin

For Directors Setting up a Competing Business, What Is a Step Too Far?

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At what point do the steps a director takes to establish a competing business before resigning become unlawful? In the recent case of Cheshire Estate & Legal Ltd v Blanchfield & Ors, the Court of Appeal considered whether two...more

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Dismisses Aiding And Abetting Fraud Claim Against Corporate Officers And Directors On Grounds That A Corporation...

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Urvan v. AMMO, Inc., Consol. C.A. No. 2023-0470 PRW (Del. Ch. Feb. 27, 2024, corrected Mar. 14, 2024) - It is an axiom of Delaware law that a corporation acts through its human agents. This principle informs the causes of...more

Morris James LLP

Supreme Court Upholds Contractual Voidness Provision in LLC Agreement

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Holifield v. XRI Investment Holdings, LLC, No. 407, 2022 (Del. Sept. 7, 2023) - This decision concerned the disputed transfer of a member's LLC units. Below, the Court of Chancery held that the disputed transfer was...more

Morris James LLP

Entire Fairness Standard Applied to Transaction Benefitting Controllers of Controllers

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Tueza v. Lindon, C.A. No. 2022-0130-SG (Del. Ch. Apr. 27, 2023) - Because controlling stockholders of Delaware corporations owe fiduciary duties to both the corporation and to its minority stockholders, the Court of...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Rules That Moving Situs of Trust to Delaware Supports Personal Jurisdiction Under the State’s Long-Arm Statute

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Harris v. Harris, C.A. No. 2019-0736-JTL (Del. Ch. Jan. 12, 2023) - Three children filed suit against their mother and her associates, alleging they had seized control of a family-owned corporation and engaged in...more

Morris James LLP

Delaware Corporate and Commercial Case Law Year in Review - February 2023

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This top ten list summarizes significant decisions of the Delaware Supreme Court and the Delaware Court of Chancery over the past calendar year. Our criteria for selection are that the decision either meaningfully changed...more

Goodwin

“Good Faith” in Shareholders’ Agreements: What Does it Mean?

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Shareholder agreements often include an obligation that the shareholders must act with “good faith” in their dealings with one another and with the company. However, what does that actually mean? In this insight, we consider...more

Hendershot Cowart P.C.

Shareholder Actions: Direct Vs. Derivative Suits

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When it comes to protecting their interests – or the interests of the corporation – shareholders have unique rights to take legal action. They can file suit either on behalf of the corporation itself, known as a derivative...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Resolves Section 225 Dispute and Declines to Invalidate Written Consents

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Zhou v. Deng, C.A. No. 2021-0026-JRS (Del. Ch. Apr. 6, 2022) - When deciding a summary proceeding regarding a disputed corporate office under Section 225 of the DGCL, the Court of Chancery may consider whether an election,...more

Goodwin

Delaware Chancery Court Dismisses Cigna Derivative Suit Over Failed Anthem Merger

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Delaware Chancery Court Dismisses Cigna Derivative Suit Over Failed Anthem Merger; The PCAOB Sanctions Former KPMG Vice Chair Of Audit For Failure To Supervise Senior Members Of KPMG's Audit Practice; Ninth Circuit Affirms...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Finds Former Directors Bringing Wrongful Termination Claims Were Not Entitled to all Privileged Communications During...

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SerVaas v. Ford Smart Mobility LLC, C.A. No. 2020-0909-LWW (Del. Ch. Nov. 9, 2021) - With limited exceptions, directors normally have “unfettered” access to corporate information. This decision indicates, however, that the...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Dismisses Time-Barred Complaint Against Zillow

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Chertok v. Zillow, Inc., C.A. No. 2019-0849-LWW (Del. Ch. Oct. 18, 2021) - Plaintiffs, a former co-founder and director of NMD Interactive (“Chertok”) and an LLC that he managed, brought a breach of contract action against...more

Conyers

King Bun Limited and Others v. Lau Man Sang, James and Others Claim No. BVIHCM 2017/086

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Conyers represented the successful claimants in Claim No. BVIHCM 2017/086 King Bun Limited and Others v. Lau Man Sang, James and Others, a derivative action commenced by minority shareholders concerning disputes about...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Dismisses Derivative Breach of Contract Claim Against Directors for Alleged Violations of Certificate of Incorporation

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Lacey v. Mota-Velasco, C.A. No. 2019-0312-SG (Del. Ch. Feb. 11, 2021) - A corporate charter represents a contractual agreement between the corporation and its stockholders. In Lacey, the Court of Chancery addressed...more

Goodwin

Rhode Island Federal Court Dismisses Securities Class Action Against CVS Arising From Statements Made After Omnicare Acquisition

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Rhode Island Federal Court Dismisses Securities Class Action Against CVS Arising From Statements Made After Omnicare Acquisition; SEC Division of Corporation Finance Suggests Companies Issue Additional Disclosures When...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Resolves Dispute Between Competing Special Committees, Finding Second Committee Could Not Voluntarily Dismiss Suit...

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In re WeWork Litigation, C.A. No. 2020-0258-AGB (Del. Ch. Dec. 14, 2020) - This decision addresses a matter of first impression arising out of a dispute pitting two special committees of the same company, WeCompany...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Sustains CEO’s Contract Claims in WeWork Litigation

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In re WeWork Litig., Consol. C.A. No. 2020-0258-AGB (Del. Ch. Oct. 30, 2020). A company facing a liquidity crisis (the shared working space company, WeWork), its outgoing CEO (Adam Nuemann), and two related SoftBank...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Holds That Management Does Not Have Unilateral Authority to Preclude a Director From Obtaining the Company’s Privileged...

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In Re WeWork Litig., Consol. C.A. No. 2020-0258-AGB (Del. Ch. Aug. 21, 2020) - In October 2019, The We Company’s (the “Company”) board of directors established a special committee (the “Special Committee”) to evaluate a...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Rejects Bid to Jettison USACafes and its Holding That, Absent Agreement to the Contrary, the Controllers of a Corporate...

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Fannin v. UMTH Land Development, L.P. (In re: United Development Funding III, L.P.), C.A. No. 12541-VCF (Del. Ch. Jul. 31, 2020). The Court of Chancery has concluded that in certain situations, equity will, by default,...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Construes LLC Agreement as Imposing Only the Managerial Duty to Act in Good Faith and Dismisses Claims for Failure to...

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MKE Holdings v. Schwartz, C.A. No. 2018-0729-SG (Del. Ch. Sept. 26, 2019). Under Delaware law, the managers of a limited liability company owe the entity and its members the traditional common law fiduciary duties of care...more

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Finds Agreements Unenforceable for Lack of Assent, Dismisses Remaining Claims for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction

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Eagle Force Holdings, LLC v. Campbell, C.A. No. 10803-VCMR (Del. Ch. Aug. 29, 2019). Parties to a contract must provide evidence of an overt manifestation of assent for a contract to be enforceable under Delaware law....more

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Addresses Stockholder Standing to Enforce Corporate Contracts, Declines to Dismiss Claim for Breach of...

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Ark. Teacher Ret. Sys. v. Alon USA Energy, Inc., C.A. No. 2017-0453-KSJM (Del. Ch. Jun. 28, 2019). Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, an anti-takeover statute, prohibits a target from entering into a...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Addresses Earn-Out Dispute Involving Alleged Breaches of Fiduciary Duty and the Implied Covenant

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Glidepath Ltd. v. Beumer Corp., C.A. No. 12220-VCL (Del. Ch. Feb. 21, 2019). Contingent payments based on an acquired business’s future performance are a frequent feature in M&A transactions. In this case, after selling...more

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Addresses the Scope of Summary Control Disputes and Effectiveness of Written Consents

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Brown v. Kellar, C.A. No. 2018-0687-MTZ (Del. Ch. Dec. 21, 2018) - Control disputes, like those under Section 225 of the DGCL, are summary, narrow proceedings limited to the issues regarding title to office. The Court of...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Dieckman and Mesirov Highlight That Differences in Limited Partnership Agreements Impact Aiding-and-Abetting Claims

Two decisions from the Court of Chancery — Dieckman v. Regency GP LP, C.A. No. 11130-CB (Del. Ch. Feb. 20, 2018) and Mesirov v. Enbridge Energy Co., C.A. No. 11314-VCS (Del. Ch. Aug. 29, 2018) — emphasize a significant...more

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