Innovation in Compliance - Key Board Issues Going Forward with Christina Bresani
The Court of Chancery continues its consideration of whether a director or officer’s oversight duties, set forth in the seminal case of In re Caremark International Inc. Derivative Litigation and its progeny, apply to...more
In Segway Inc. v. Hong Cai, 2023 Del. Ch. LEXIS 643 (Del. Ch. Dec. 14, 2023), the Delaware Court of Chancery (Will, V.C.) dismissed a claim for breach of fiduciary duty brought by Segway Inc. (the “Company”) against its...more
In a case of first impression, the Court of Chancery held recently that officers, like directors, owe their companies a duty of oversight, although the scope of that will vary with their responsibilities. Two other Chancery...more
On January 25, 2023, Vice Chancellor Laster of the Court of Chancery issued a significant decision, finding as a matter of first impression that corporate officers owe a duty of oversight akin to the oversight duties owed by...more
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently issued a decision clarifying that officers, not just directors, owe oversights duties to the corporation. Vice Chancellor Laster found that Caremark-type obligations extended to a...more
Here we have another in a string of McDonald’s cases—all of them arising out of workplace misconduct at McDonald’s, none even dipping its toe into employment law. First, you’ll remember, there were settled charges brought by...more
In our February 14, 2023 Stay Current, we discussed a Delaware Court of Chancery decision allowing shareholder derivative claims to proceed against a corporate officer for alleged oversight duty failures stemming from...more
The US decision reminds UK companies and their officers to identify and report red flags about misconduct in the workplace. Certain shareholders of McDonald’s Corporation (the Company) sued David Fairhurst, the Company’s...more
Key Takeaways - In a case of first impression, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a decision that could give investors more time to sue corporate directors and officers for Caremark breach of fiduciary duty claims. ...more
Delaware law has long recognized a director’s duty of oversight. The well-established doctrine, first articulated in 1996 in In Re: Caremark International Inc. Derivative Litigation, was recently expanded to officers in In re...more
According to a recent decision handed down by the Delaware courts, corporate officers must now contend with a new avenue of liability: the duty of oversight. Previously, only a company’s board could face personal liability...more
Earlier this year, we wrote about Delaware’s recent statutory changes extending certain protections to corporate officers that were previously only afforded to directors. As we mentioned in that advisory, an exception to the...more
On January 26, 2023, the Delaware Court of Chancery resolved a long-standing ambiguity in Delaware law, clarifying, for the first time, that corporate officers owe a fiduciary duty of oversight. The case, In re McDonald’s...more
On Jan. 25, 2023, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an opinion with significant implications for American corporate law. In denying the defendants’ motion to dismiss in In re McDonald’s Corporation Stockholder Derivative...more
It is well established that corporate officers owe the same fiduciary duties as directors under Delaware law. However, the Delaware courts have not had occasion to consider every species of fiduciary duty claim against...more
This week, we are exploring a shift in the duties of care owed by corporate officers to the corporation. It is coming through the Chancery Court of Delaware in the case of McDonald’s Corporation and its former Executive Vice...more
In In re McDonald’s Corporation, defendant David Fairhurst, who formerly served as Executive Vice President and Global Chief People Officer of McDonald’s Corporation, contested a stockholders’ claim that he had breached his...more
Takeaways - Delaware courts have become more willing to allow stockholders to pursue claims that directors breached their duty to oversee risk management and compliance. Directors are most vulnerable to suits where they have...more
In a significant recent decision, the Delaware Court of Chancery denied a motion to dismiss a derivative action against the directors of The Boeing Company stemming from the 2018 and 2019 crashes of two Boeing 737 MAX...more
The Delaware Court of Chancery on Sept. 7, 2021, allowed a derivative stockholder lawsuit to proceed against The Boeing Company (Boeing), alleging that Boeing's board of directors breached their fiduciary duties by failing to...more
In 2019, the Delaware Supreme Court issued Marchand v. Barnhill, which was soon followed by the Court of Chancery’s opinion in In re Clovis Oncology Derivative Litigation. Both rulings sustained derivative claims for breach...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued guidance in the form of an Information Letter describing the process that plan fiduciaries should undertake in determining whether an investment fund having a private equity...more
In Teamsters Local 443 Health Services & Insurance Plan v. Chou, the Delaware Court of Chancery held, at the pleading stage, that plaintiff stockholders had stated a claim for Caremark oversight liability against certain of...more
Directors of most for-profit U.S. corporations have long considered the corporation’s relationships with customers, employees, suppliers and the communities in which they operate — sometimes referred to as “stakeholders” — in...more
The current COVID-19 crisis has rapidly re-shaped everyday life around the world, and our understanding of the impact this disruption to daily interactions and routines has had on business is constantly evolving....more