The Ravenswood Investment Company LP v. The Estate Of Bassett S. Winmill, C.A. No. 3730-VCS (Del. Ch. Mar. 21, 2018) -
It is easy to assume that some form of meaningful relief must be available when a fiduciary bears the...more
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
California State Teachers Retirement System v. Alvarez, No. 295, 2016 (Del. Jan. 25, 2018) -
This is an important decision clarifying the rules regarding the preclusive effect a dismissal of a derivative suit may have on a...more
Aloha Power Company LLC v. Regenesis Power LLC, C.A. 12697-VCMR (Dec. 22, 2017) -
This books and records decision addresses inspection rights granted under an LLC agreement. It also is useful as a reminder that a mere...more
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
Zohar II 2005-1 Limited v. FSAR Holdings Inc., C.A. No. 12946-VCS (Nov. 30, 2017) -
This is an important decision for two reasons. First, it determines when a proxy is irrevocable under Delaware law. To be irrevocable...more
Peter Van Der Fluit v. Yates, C.A. No. 12553-VCMR (Nov. 30, 2017) -
Briefly, under Corwin, the informed vote of a majority of the disinterested stockholders subjects a transaction to the business judgment rule when the...more
Wilkinson v. A. Schulman, Inc., C.A. No. 2017-0138-VCL (Nov. 13, 2017) -
This decision has potential far-reaching consequences for shareholder-plaintiff litigation. As is well known, some entrepreneurial plaintiff-side...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
Henry v. Phixios Holdings Inc., C.A. No. 12504-VCMR (July 10, 2017) -
This is the rare decision explaining when restrictions on stock transfers (permitted by Section 202 of the DGCL) can be enforced. While the statute...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
The Court of Chancery continues to wrestle with the issue of when the negotiated deal price represents "fair value" in an appraisal case. Here, serious problems with the management projections led the Court to reject a...more
Recent criticism of appraisal arbitrage argues that it comes without real risk to the petitioners. This appraisal decision, which values the company below the deal price based on a discounted cash flow analysis, should be...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
Stockholder approval of an equity compensation plan may or may not constitute ratification over awards to the directors under the plan. When it does, the Court of Chancery will review challenges under the business judgment...more
This decision resolved a matter of first impression: a plaintiff seeking corporate records under Section 220 of the DGCL must be a stockholder at the time he files his complaint to have standing. Thus, when a stockholder...more
On the same day the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the widely-reported TransPerfect decision, which ordered the sale of a successful company by custodian under Section 226 of the DGCL in order to break deadlock, the Court of...more
The Supreme Court has affirmed the Court of Chancery decision that Section 226 of the DGCL permits the Court to appoint a custodian to sell a Delaware corporation when the board of directors and stockholders are deadlocked...more
Morris James attorneys Lewis Lazarus, Albert Manwaring and Albert Carroll authored an article published in Transaction Advisors titled Delaware Corporate and Commercial Case Law Year in Review – 2016. The article summarizes...more
It is well understood that minority stockholders have limited rights to object to a short-form merger under Delaware law. This decision affirms that minority stockholders cannot challenge the merger on fairness grounds...more
This is another decision in the continuing development of Delaware law on how to determine the acquired company’s fair value in an appraisal action. The decision carefully reviews the more recent opinions on whether the...more
Appraisal petitioners normally agree to consolidate their actions, on which law firm(s) will represent them, and on how their common objectives will be carried out. That did not happen in this case: the petitioners disputed...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
When a stockholder files a derivative suit she can avoid dismissal under Rule 23.1’s pre-suit demand-on-the-board requirement by showing that a majority of the directors were not independent enough to fairly consider her...more
This is an excellent review of the law governing when the Court will enjoin board action that affects the ability of stockholders to elect directors....more