News & Analysis as of

Shareholders Section 220 Request Fiduciary Duty

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Proposed 2025 Amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law

For decades, Delaware has been widely regarded as the leading forum for incorporation in the United States. More than half of all publicly traded U.S. companies, including more than two-thirds of the Fortune 500, have made...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Determines Certain Suits and Investigations Against Amazon Were Insufficient to Meet Credible Basis Standard to Inspect...

Morris James LLP on

Wong Leung Revocable Tr. v. Amazon.com Inc., C.A. No. 2023-1251-BWD (Del. Ch. May 1, 2024) - In order to inspect books and records under Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, a stockholder-plaintiff must...more

Hogan Lovells

2024 Securities, Shareholder, and M&A Litigation Outlook

Hogan Lovells on

2023 was a busy year, with both the Delaware courts and others, including the U.S. Supreme Court, weighing in on shareholder and M&A litigation issues. The Delaware Court of Chancery issued several notable decisions on issues...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Limits Section 220 Books-and-Records Production to Formal Board Materials

Morris James LLP on

In re Zendesk, Inc. Section 220 Litigation, C.A. No. 2023-0454-BWD (Del. Ch. Aug. 25, 2023) - The background of this books-and-records decision involved a failed acquisition, a strategic review, a proxy contest, and a...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Insights: The Delaware Edition - December 2023

In this issue, we discuss recent Delaware court developments regarding officer liability, who can recover “lost-premium” damages, and trends in books and records actions, among other topics....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

Morris James LLP

Chancery Denies Books and Records Request Related to Disney’s Opposition to Florida Legislation Prohibiting LGBTQ+ Topics in...

Morris James LLP on

Simeone v. The Walt Disney Company, C.A. No. 2022-1120-LWW (Del. Ch. June 27, 2023) - The Walt Disney Company opposed Florida legislation that limits instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida...more

Morris James LLP

Plaintiff Overcomes Rule 23.1 In Walmart Opioids Litigation Based In Part On Over-Redacted Documents In Books And Records...

Morris James LLP on

Ontario Provincial Council of Carpenters’ Pension Trust Fund v. Walton, C.A. No. 2021-0827-JTL (Del. Ch. Apr. 26, 2023) - To assert a derivative claim, a stockholder plaintiff must plead demand futility. The plaintiffs...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Yes, Federal Investigations May Require Your Company to Comply With a Stockholder’s Books-and-Records Demands

Gross v. Biogen Inc., C.A. No. 2020-0096-PAF (Del. Ch. Apr. 14, 2021). On October 11, 2016, plaintiff Melvin Gross, served the first of four books-and-records demands on defendant Biogen Inc., under DGCL Section 220. Mr....more

Morris James LLP

Delaware Corporate and Commercial Case Law Year in Review: 2020

Morris James LLP on

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

Snell & Wilmer

How Much Information Must a Shareholder Provide to a Corporation to Inspect Books and Records Under Section 220?

Snell & Wilmer on

The Supreme Court of Delaware recently affirmed a decision by the Court of Chancery that ordered a corporation to produce certain books and records to a shareholder, and which granted leave to the shareholder to take a...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Delaware Supreme Court Rules Stockholders Are Entitled to ‎Books and Records Based on “Investigatory Purpose” Without Stating...

Troutman Pepper Locke on

In an important decision, the Delaware Supreme Court, in AmerisourceBergen Corp. v. Lebanon ‎Cty. Employees’ Ret. Fund, No. 60, 2020, 2020 WL 7266362 (Del. Dec. 10, 2020), ruled that ‎stockholders may obtain access to a...more

Morris James LLP

Mindbody Deal Case Provides Conflict Takeaways For Boards

Morris James LLP on

The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent decision in In re: Mindbody Inc. Stockholders Litigation is important reading for lawyers whose practices include evaluating, addressing and — when necessary — litigating potential...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Addresses Burdens for Valuation-Related Books-and-Records Inspections, While Finding Defendant’s Asserted Lack of Records...

Morris James LLP on

Woods v. Sahara Enterprises, Inc., C.A. No. 2020-0153-JTL (Del. Ch. July 22, 2020) - This decision concerning statutory inspection rights under Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law clarifies the requirements...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Rejects Argument that Books and Records Plaintiff Could “Retroactively” Comply with Statutory Demand Requirements

Morris James LLP on

Martinez v. GPB Capital Holdings, LLC, C.A. No. 2019-1005-SG (Del. Ch. June 9, 2020) - The Delaware Court of Chancery largely entered judgment on the pleadings in favor of GPB Capital Holdings, LLC (“Defendant”), the...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Addresses Pleading ‘With Particularity’ Under Rule 23.1

Rule 23.1 of the Delaware Court of Chancery Rules requires a plaintiff asserting a shareholder derivative action to plead “with particularity the efforts, if any, made by the plaintiff to obtain the action the plaintiff...more

Proskauer - Minding Your Business

Delaware Chancery Holds Early Committee Appointment Necessary to Cleanse Conflict from Corporate Transactions

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

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Implications for Section 220 ‘Books and Records’ Demands Following High River Limited Partnership

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

Morris James LLP

Chancery Further Explains the “Proper Purpose” Requirement for Section 220 Demands

Morris James LLP on

Lebanon County Employees’ Retirement Fund v. AmerisourceBergen Corp., C.A. No. 2019-0527-JTL (Del. Ch. Jan. 13, 2020). Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) provides stockholders seeking information...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Finds No Showing of Actionable Claim Required to Inspect Books and Records

In Lebanon County Employees’ Retirement Fund, et al. v. AmerisourceBergen Corporation, the Delaware Court of Chancery ordered the inspection of the books and records of AmerisourceBergen Corporation, one of the leading opioid...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Court of Chancery Expands Stockholder Right to Corporate Books and Records

McDermott Will & Emery on

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

Morrison & Foerster LLP

Court Of Chancery Rejects Common Company Defenses To Stockholder Inspection Demands, Creating Split Of Authority Within Delaware

On January 13, 2020, the Delaware Court of Chancery (Laster, V.C.) ordered AmerisourceBergen Corp. to turn over formal board materials to stockholder plaintiffs regarding its compliance with laws and regulations relating to...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Recent Trends in Books and Records Litigation

Recently, the frequency of stockholder demands to inspect corporate books and records pursuant to Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law has increased. In turn, the case law concerning Section 220 demands is...more

Saul Ewing LLP

Beyond Board Minutes and Stockholder Lists – Section 220 Books and Records Demands May Yield Much More

Saul Ewing LLP on

In 2019, Delaware’s Court of Chancery and Supreme Court expanded the potential fruits of a “books and records” demand under 8 Del. C. § 220 to reach the electronic communications among board members and other corporate...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Finds Proper Purpose in Books and Records Demand to Investigate Potential Wrongdoing in CBS-Viacom Merger, Orders...

Morris James LLP on

Bucks Cty. Employees Ret. Fund v. CBS Corp., C.A. No. 2019-0820-JRS (Del. Ch. Nov. 25, 2019). A stockholder seeking books and records in Delaware states a proper purpose for inspection by demonstrating a credible basis to...more

48 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 2

"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