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Fiduciary Duty California

Allen Matkins

California Court Opines On Fiduciary Duties Of LLC Members And Covenants Not To Compete

Allen Matkins on

Yesterday, the Fourth District Court of Appeal issued a noteworthy opinion addressing at least two significant questions.  Samuelian v. Life Generations Healthcare, LLC, 2024 WL 3878448....more

Allen Matkins

Court Holds Internal Affairs Doctrine Typically Covers Breach Of Fiduciary Claims Despite No Averment Of Fiduciary Duty

Allen Matkins on

California's Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act provides "The law of the state . . . under which a foreign limited liability company is formed governs all of the following: The organization of the limited liability...more

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

LLC Member Acting for LLC Without Authority Is Not “Protected Activity” Under California’s Anti-SLAPP Statute

California’s anti-SLAPP statute (Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16) aims to protect defendants from meritless lawsuits designed to chill “protected activity” — i.e., the exercise of rights of petition (litigation) or...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

California District Court Denies Motion to Dismiss 401(k) Excessive Fee and Underperformance Claims

A California district court recently denied a motion to dismiss claims that the fiduciaries of a 401(k) plan breached their ERISA fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty by selecting underperforming, high-cost investments...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

California Bill Proposes to License All Commercial Loan Brokers

California has recently proposed legislation that, if enacted, would impose a new licensing requirement for any person providing “commercial brokerage” services to a borrower in connection with a commercial loan of $5,000 or...more

Allen Matkins

May A Joint Venturer Withdraw From A Joint Venture In Order To Pursue A Joint Venture Opportunity?

Allen Matkins on

California's Uniform Partnership Act of 1994 provides that a partner has a duty to refrain from competing with the partnership in the conduct of the partnership business "before the dissolution of the partnership".  Cal....more

Farella Braun + Martel LLP

Disputes Between Shareholders May Not Be Governed by Fiduciary Duties but Could Be Covered by Insurance

Disputes regarding ownership interests often arise in the context of closely held corporations, particularly when directors, officers, or majority shareholders sell or acquire ownership interests in the company. These...more

Allen Matkins

Discerning When A Director Has Acted With "Reckless Disregard"

Allen Matkins on

Section 204(a)(10) of the California Corporations Code permits the articles of incorporation to include provisions eliminating or limiting the personal liability of a director for monetary damages in an action brought by or...more

Allen Matkins

Court of Appeal Applies Caremark/Marchand To Directors of a California Corporation But The Result May Surprise You

Allen Matkins on

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

Allen Matkins

You Won't Find The Answers To These Questions In The California General Corporation Law

Allen Matkins on

I am often struck by the fact that the California General Corporation Law simply fails to address many very basic questions of corporate law and procedure, including the following...more

Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth

California Business Divorce: Corporate Opportunity Usurpation and Best Practices to Avoid it in Your California LLC

Going into business with someone requires a high level of trust. For a business to thrive, business partners must be loyal to the business and each other. As in a marriage, when a partner in a business is disloyal, things...more

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

Quasi-Judicial Immunity for Court-Appointed Partition Brokers

In California, several classes of persons are entitled to some form of immunity protecting them from liability for activities performed in connection with judicial proceedings. For example, “judicial immunity” bars civil...more

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

LLC and Partnership Authority “Safe Harbors”

California’s statutes governing LLCs and general partnerships include “safe harbor” provisions making it easier for third parties to rely on the apparent authority of an LLC’s manager or a partnership’s partner. The statutes...more

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

Diversion of LLC Funds Is Not “Protected Activity” Under California’s Anti-SLAPP Statute

California’s anti-SLAPP statute (Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16) aims to protect defendants from meritless lawsuits designed to chill “protected activity” — i.e., the exercise of rights of petition or free speech on...more

Allen Matkins

The General Corporation Law's Filioque

Allen Matkins on

The Nicene Creed as approved by the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D. included the following: "τὸ ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκπορευόμενον (who proceeds from the father).  About 200 years later at the Third Council of Toledo, the...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

California Court of Appeal Holds that a Corporation’s Direct Cause of Action for Breach of Fiduciary Duty is Legal Rather than...

In ZF Micro Solutions, Inc. v. TAT Capital Partners, Ltd., 2022 WL 4090879 (Cal. App. Aug. 8, 2022), the Fourth Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal decided, as a matter of first impression, that a...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

California Court of Appeal Reaffirms Broad Inspection Rights Accorded to Directors Under Section 1602 of the California...

In Fowler v. Golden Pacific Bancorp, Inc., 2022 Cal. App. LEXIS 548 (Cal. App. June 23, 2022), the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District (Krause, J.), reinforced the near absolute right of directors of a...more

Allen Matkins

A First Sighting Of Zuckerberg Decision In California

Allen Matkins on

Last year, the Delaware Supreme Court adopted a tripartite test for assessing demand futility allegations in derivative actions. United Food & Commercial Workers Union v. Zuckerberg 262 A.3d 1034 (Del. 2021). Under this...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Less is More: Brevity is the Soul of Wit

Last month, a three-judge panel in the Ninth Circuit reversed the Northern District of California’s ruling in Wit v. United Behavioral Health. In Wit, the district court ruled that United Behavioral Health (“UBH”) breached...more

Allen Matkins

"Disinterested" May Be Pretermitted In Delaware But Not In California

Allen Matkins on

In this post, Professor Stephen Bainbridge posits that the Delaware Supreme Court incorrectly decided Fliegler v. Lawrence, 361 A.2d 218 (Del. 1976) by requiring that stockholder approval of conflicted transaction requires a...more

Allen Matkins

Why California Requires Notice Of Rights That Shareholders May Not Have

Allen Matkins on

Dissenters' rights under California's General Corporation Law do not exist unless there are "dissenting shares", a term defined in Section 1300(b) of the California Corporations Code.  In order to qualify as "dissenting...more

Allen Matkins

Why California Law Applies To Dividends Made By A Delaware Corporation (And Not To Some California Corporations)

Allen Matkins on

Corporations incorporated under California's General Corporation Law are subject to the limitations on distributions set forth in Chapter 5 of that law.   A foreign corporation may also be subject to Chapter 5 by virtue of...more

Allen Matkins

Unsuccessful Derivative Plaintiff Found Personally Liable For Defendant's Attorneys' Fees

Allen Matkins on

I expect that most plaintiffs in derivative actions do not expect to pay a defendant's attorneys' fees if they lose because under the "American Rule" each side pays their own attorneys' fees, regardless of who wins.  A...more

Allen Matkins

Court Finds No Cause Of Action Against Officer For Interfering With Shareholder Inspection

Allen Matkins on

William Romanowski is a former NFL linebacker who later became the majority shareholder, director, and "public face" of Nutrition 53, Inc.  When the company's second largest shareholder was allegedly denied inspection of the...more

Allen Matkins

Is There No Protection For The Innocent When A Corporation Transfers Its All To Secured Creditors?

Allen Matkins on

Last Friday, this space addressed itself to Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster's ruling in  Stream TV Networks v. SeeCubic, C.A. No. 2020-0310-JTL (Dec. 8, 2020).   He concluded that stockholder approval was not required when...more

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