Litigation developments: fundamental shareholder rights.
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The books and records demand often is the opening act in business divorce litigation. The relatively low burden that an owner must meet in order to obtain access to a company’s books and records, and the availability of an...more
Under Texas law, a member of a limited liability company (LLC) or a qualifying shareholder of a corporation has the right to examine the company’s books and records, so long as there is a proper purpose. This right is...more
Corporate books and records demands are on the rise. And as the Delaware courts have made it easier for shareholders to demonstrate a proper purpose to seek inspection, corporations increasingly must defend these actions by...more
On June 3, 2022, the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed the final two counts in an action against California biotech firm Vaxart, Inc., finding that plaintiffs failed to adequately allege that certain non-public information...more
A common complaint of a minority shareholder is the denial of access to the corporation’s books and records. A shareholder enjoys the right to examine and copy certain records of the corporation in which the shareholder owns...more
In this podcast episode, New York Hogan Lovells partner Ryan Philp and senior associate Allison Wuertz discuss litigation developments affecting fundamental shareholder rights, including Section 220 books and records demands,...more
Last week, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an important decision effectively broadening the scope of stockholder pre-litigation inspection rights. ...more
On August 13, 2020, the Delaware Court of Chancery held that stockholders’ rights to inspect the books and records of Delaware companies are exclusively governed by the Delaware inspection statute, 8 Del. C. § 220...more
In Salladay v. Lev, the Delaware Chancery Court elaborated on how early a corporate board must take protective measures to shield a conflicted transaction from entire fairness review. Salladay involved a motion to dismiss a...more
Delaware law usually protects directors in making good faith business decisions. However, the recent Delaware Court of Chancery AmerisourceBergen decision signals a two-part trend of (i) increased stockholder access to...more
In High River Ltd. P’ship v. Occidental Petroleum Corp., No. CV 2019-0403-JRS, 2019 WL 6040285 (Del. Ch. Nov. 14, 2019), the Court of Chancery of the state of Delaware recently refused to hold that Section 220 books and...more
In a recent post-trial opinion, Vice Chancellor Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an important decision regarding stockholder books and records demands under Section 220(b) of the Delaware General Corporation...more
Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law affords stockholders a qualified right to inspect a corporation's books and records. A Section 220 inspection is a powerful stockholder right, and indeed, the Delaware...more
Stockholder “books and records” requests have become increasingly prevalent in the past decade. These requests can be a used as tools by activist investors to gather information to support demands for corporate change or a...more
The New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed per curiam the Appellate Division’s decision in R.A. Feur v. Merck & Co., Inc. and its strict adherence to the New Jersey corporate statute N.J.S.A. 14A:5-28 governing “books and records”...more
On May 30, 2019, Vice Chancellor Joseph R. Slights III of the Delaware Court of Chancery granted a stockholder demand to inspect Facebook’s books and records in connection with their Caremark claims arising from alleged data...more
Directors, corporate secretaries and company counsel must be mindful of good corporate housekeeping practices involving the maintenance of corporate books and records. Earlier this year, a handful of Delaware court opinions...more
The Delaware Supreme Court recently ordered a corporation to produce emails and other electronic documents in response to a stockholder’s request to inspect books and records under Section 220 of the Delaware General...more
United States District Court Judge Haywood S. Stirling, Jr. yesterday blocked a stockholder's attempt to use California's shareholder inspection statute to gain access to a corporation's "books and records and minutes of...more
On January 29, 2019, the Delaware Supreme Court provided guidance to the Court of Chancery regarding the scope of a stockholder’s inspection rights under Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law or similar LLC or...more
Section 1601 of the California Corporations Code establishes a shareholder's right to inspect the "accounting books and records and minutes of proceedings of the shareholders and the board and committees of the board". A...more
Under Corwin v. KKR Financial Holdings LLC1 and its progeny, “when disinterested, fully informed, uncoerced stockholders approve a transaction absent a looming conflicted controller,” the irrebuttable business judgment rule...more
Perhaps it’s because I’ll be speaking on the topic later this week, or perhaps it’s because of a recent post on another one of our blogs, but shareholder rights of inspection have been on the mind of late....more
Over the last several years, the books-and-records proceeding and its corresponding shareholder rights of inspection seem to have entered a bit of renaissance period in the courts. ...more
Section 1601(a) of the California Corporations Code currently subjects to shareholder inspection the "accounting books and records and minutes of proceedings of the shareholders and the board and committees of the board"....more