News & Analysis as of

Fiduciary Duty DE Supreme Court

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Expands MFW Applicability in Conflicted Controller Transactions

On April 4, 2024, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a much-anticipated decision, In re Match Group Derivative Litigation (“In re Match Group”), extending the MFW doctrine more broadly to all conflicted controller...more

Mayer Brown

In re Match Group, Inc.: Delaware Supreme Court Clarifies Standard of Review for Controlling Stockholder Transactions

Mayer Brown on

In a recent decision, the Delaware Supreme Court clarified the proper standard to apply to a non-freeze-out merger transaction involving a controlling stockholder. Litigators who practice in the Delaware Court of Chancery are...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

Conflict Between Delaware LLC Act and Bankruptcy Code Affects Creditor Toolbox

Proskauer Rose LLP on

As you know from our prior alerts, creditors of borrowers formed as Delaware LLCs (as opposed to corporations) lack standing under Delaware law to sue directors for breaching fiduciary duties even when, to the surprise of...more

Goodwin

Delaware Supreme Court Holds That Boards Must Satisfy the MFW Framework in Controller Transactions to Obtain Business Judgment...

Goodwin on

In 2014, the Delaware Supreme Court held in Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corp. (“MFW”) that a court will apply the entire fairness standard of review to freeze-out merger transactions between a controlled corporation and its...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Recent Delaware Law Developments and Proposed Legislative Responses

The last several months have marked an extremely busy time in Delaware corporate law, with regard to decisions out of the Delaware courts, proposed legislative responses, and shifting market practices. In recent weeks in...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Supreme Court Holds MFW Is Applicable To Controlling Stockholder Transactions Even Outside Of Freeze-Out Context

A&O Shearman on

On April 4, 2024, in an opinion authored by Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz, Jr., the Supreme Court of Delaware sitting en banc held that the framework articulated in Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corp., 88 A.3d 635 (Del. 2014)...more

Mintz - Bankruptcy & Restructuring Viewpoints

Delaware Bankruptcy Court Grants Derivative Standing to Creditors’ Committee to Sue Members and Officers of Delaware LLC

In early February, a Delaware bankruptcy judge set new precedent by granting a creditors’ committee derivative standing to pursue breach of fiduciary duty claims against a Delaware LLC’s members and officers. At least three...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Decision Shows Continued Momentum for Caremark Plaintiffs

Vinson & Elkins LLP on

A recent opinion from the Delaware Supreme Court could be viewed by some as expanding plaintiffs’ ability to viably plead a duty of oversight (or “Caremark”) claim against directors. In Lebanon County Employees’ Retirement...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Books and Records Demands 2023 Recap: Courts Continue To Develop the Law Regarding the Scope of Inspection

As discussed in prior articles, stockholder plaintiffs have increasingly sought to obtain companies’ books and records under 8 Del. C. § 220 (Section 220) and the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act’s analogous provision,...more

Dechert LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Affirms Tesla’s Acquisition of SolarCity as “Entirely Fair”

Dechert LLP on

The Delaware Supreme Court affirms the Court of Chancery’s determination that Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity was the result of fair dealing, reflected a fair price, and was entirely fair—even when the process was imperfect....more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Supreme Court Affirms Decision Rejecting Fiduciary Duty Claims As To Allegedly Conflicted Acquisition Because It...

A&O Shearman on

On June 6, 2023, in an opinion authored by Justice Karen L. Valihura, the Supreme Court of Delaware sitting en banc unanimously affirmed judgment in favor of defendant, the CEO/Founder and then-Chairman (the “Chairman”) of...more

Paul Hastings LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Sides with SolarWinds in Shareholder Suit Related to 2020 Cyber Attack

Paul Hastings LLP on

On May 17, 2023, the Delaware Supreme Court upheld a September 2022 decision dismissing a shareholder suit against SolarWinds Corporation. In 2021, shareholders sued SolarWinds (“the Company”) for a 2020 cybersecurity...more

Hogan Lovells

Q1 2023 Quarterly Corporate / M&A decisions updates

Hogan Lovells on

M&A and shareholder litigation is off to a busy start in 2023, with Delaware courts issuing several interesting opinions. The Delaware Supreme Court reversed a Delaware Court of Chancery decision, finding that the “maximum...more

Paul Hastings LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Expressly Holds that Corporate Officers Owe a Duty of Oversight

Paul Hastings LLP on

In a recent opinion, the Delaware Court of Chancery for the first time expressly held that corporate officers, like corporate directors, owe a duty of oversight. In defining the scope of the oversight duty at the officer...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Holds that Officers of a Delaware Corporation Are Subject to Fiduciary Duty of Oversight

In In re McDonald’s Corp. Stockholder Derivative Litigation, No. 2021-0324 (Del. Ch. Jan. 26, 2023), the Delaware Court of Chancery (Laster, V.C.) held that officers of a Delaware corporation are subject to a fiduciary duty...more

King & Spalding

Delaware Chancery Court Holds Corporate Officers Owe Duty of Oversight

King & Spalding on

Vice Chancellor Laster Extends This Fiduciary Duty, Previously Recognized only as to Corporate Directors - On January 25, 2023, the Delaware Court of Chancery answered an important question of officer liability, holding...more

Dechert LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Issues Significant Decision Addressing Fiduciary Duties of Officers, Including Holding that Officers...

Dechert LLP on

Corporate officers owe the same fiduciary duty of oversight as directors. Just as with directors, officers fulfill their oversight duty by acting in good faith....more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Delaware Court of Chancery Issues Two Opinions in the SPAC Context

In recent weeks, the Delaware Court of Chancery has issued two noteworthy opinions in the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) context—one related to fiduciary duties and one related to the technical question of when a...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Enforces Partnership Agreement’s Unambiguous Exculpation Provision Waiving Fiduciary Duties and Presuming...

On December 19, 2022, Chief Justice Seitz issued an opinion for a unanimous Delaware Supreme Court, sitting en banc, reversing and remanding the Delaware Court of Chancery’s decision in Bandera Master Fund LP v. Boardwalk...more

Cozen O'Connor

Amendment to DGCL §102(b)(7); Expanding Exculpation Rights to Apply to Corporate Officers

Cozen O'Connor on

For more than 35 years, Section 102(b)(7) of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (DGCL) has permitted a Delaware corporation to include a provision in its certificate of incorporation that eliminates or...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

Del. Bankruptcy Rulings Instruct on Creditors' Rights to Sue

Proskauer Rose LLP on

Creditors of distressed businesses are often frustrated by shareholder- controlled boards when directors pursue strategies that appear to be designed to benefit shareholders at the creditors' expense. In these...more

Pillsbury - Policyholder Pulse blog

Strengthening Corporate Officer Protection: Delaware’s Updated Corporate Exculpation Law and Its Impact on D&O Liability Insurance

As the preferred place of incorporation for most U.S. companies, Delaware has long been a leader in the development of statutory and common law on corporate governance. In keeping with this role, the Delaware legislature...more

White & Case LLP

Notable decisions from Delaware courts

White & Case LLP on

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

Proskauer Rose LLP

Suing Directors of a Troubled Business: When Form Trumps Substance

Proskauer Rose LLP on

Creditors of distressed businesses are often frustrated by shareholder-controlled boards when directors pursue strategies that appear to be designed to benefit shareholders at the creditors’ expense. In these circumstances,...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Supreme Court Reverses Dismissal Of A Post-Merger Suit For Alleged Breach Of Fiduciary Duty Related To Disclosures On...

A&O Shearman on

On July 19, 2022, in an opinion authored by Justice Gary F. Traynor, a majority of the Supreme Court of Delaware sitting en banc affirmed in part and reversed in part the dismissal of breach of fiduciary duty claims against...more

156 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 7

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide