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 changed the law in a...more
2/22/2018
/ Appraisal ,
Appraisal Rights ,
Books & Records ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Litigation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Derivative Suit ,
Directors ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Master Limited Partnerships ,
Partnership Agreements ,
Section 220 Request ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders
Chatham Asset Management LLC v. Papanier, C.A. No. 2017-0088-AGB (Dec. 22, 2017) -
It is often said that a mere prediction of some future event cannot be misleading because such predictions are speculations that cannot be...more
Lenois v. Lawal, C.A. No. 11963-VCMR (Nov. 7, 2017) -
This case illustrates the power of well-functioning special committee to diffuse the potentially corruptive influence of a self-interested controller on a transaction....more
Kahn v. Stern, C.A. No. 12498-VCG (Aug. 28, 2017) -
It is not easy to sufficiently plead a bad faith breach of fiduciary duty by a board in approving a merger when a majority of the directors were disinterested and...more
In Re Meadwestvaco Stockholders Litigation, C.A. No. 10617-CB (August 17, 2017) -
As this decision explains, to state a claim attacking a merger on the basis that the Board acted in bad faith you need more than ...more
Buttonwood Tree Value Partners L.P. v. R.L. Polk & Co. Inc., C.A. No. 9250-VCG (July 24, 2017) -
This an interesting decision because it upholds a claim that the controllers of a Delaware corporation breached their...more
Salberg v. Genworth Financial Inc., C.A. No. 2017-0018-JRS (July 27, 2017) -
This is an important decision for its analyses implicating the Garner and Corwin rules. The Garner rule is that, under certain narrow...more
H&N Management Group Inc. v Couch, C.A. No. 12847-VCMR (Del. Ch. Aug. 1, 2017) -
This is a rare case involving apparent lack of care in approving a conflicted transaction and a failure to employ almost any safeguards to...more
While directors have the right to issue options, when the grant is to themselves and there are specific facts suggesting unfairness, those directors will have the burden of proving the grants were entirely fair in a...more
A derivative plaintiff who fails to make a pre-suit demand on the board must show why demand is excused using particularized facts. Here, the plaintiff argued that demand was automatically excused by sufficiently pleading a...more
This decision begins with a conventional analysis of a claim that disclosure violations and director self-interest have tainted a merger vote. That claim was rejected for want of factual support. More unusual, the decision...more
This is an interesting decision because it examines an intriguing legal theory for holding a controlling stockholder liable in a sale: the “known looter” theory. Generally speaking, controllers can sell their stock to whoever...more
This is a significant decision because it is the first to find that a stockholder vote did not invoke business judgment review under Corwin because the vote was coerced and not fully informed. Under Corwin, a transaction...more
It is not enough that certain forward-looking statements failed to come true to justify requiring an inspection of corporate records. More evidence of wrongdoing is needed if your inspection is based on a theory of...more
The Delaware LLC Act provides for personal jurisdiction in Delaware over those who manage a Delaware LLC—i.e., those who are named as managers in the LLC agreement, and those who participate materially in the LLC’s...more
This is an important decision because it clarifies when a stockholder loses standing to bring a fiduciary duty case because he sold his stock. Briefly, breach of fiduciary duty claims may be direct (belonging to the...more
On November 30, 2016, a federal district court dismissed a shareholder derivative complaint against various current and former directors of Home Depot arising from the well-publicized data breach the company suffered between...more
Even after a board rejects a plaintiff-stockholder’s demand to bring a derivative litigation, the plaintiff may proceed to bring that derivative action if the plaintiff can show the demand was “wrongful.” Having conceded...more
Under the recent Corwin decision, a fully-informed vote by uncoerced and disinterested stockholders to approve a merger invokes the business judgment rule and effectively precludes almost any claim the merger was improper. ...more
A merger approved in accordance with the criteria set out in the M&F Worldwide decision is subject to the business judgment standard of review, and vulnerable to attack only if its terms are so extreme as to constitute waste....more
Now that disclosure-only settlements seem almost a thing of the past, so-called “mootness” fee awards or settlements may become more common. These occur when the corporation moots the claim by doing what the plaintiff says...more
Revenue projections are an inexact science, but they should have some basis in fact. Where they are alleged to be without a basis in reality, and indeed contrary to reality, a court may, as here, find that an officer’s...more
This decision is helpful in clarifying that claims alleging disclosure violations in a proxy statement need to be pressed before a merger closes. ...more
This is an important decision because it explains when a prior dismissal of a derivative complaint does not preclude a second complaint alleging a wrong close to that alleged in the dismissed case.
It distinguishes a...more
This is one of two recent Court of Chancery decisions explaining that the Corwin case really does mean that there is an “irrebuttable business judgment rule” that bars challenges to a merger approved by a majority of the...more