Effective August 1, 2022, the Delaware General Corporation Law (the DGCL)—the statutory code that governs Delaware corporations—has been amended to make several significant changes. Among other things, the amendments will...more
On April 27, 2022, Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an opinion, on a motion to dismiss, addressing several important governance topics about director and officer compensation—including...more
The past two years have seen a dramatic shift in practice relating to the Delaware public benefit corporation (the PBC)—a corporate form that requires the board of directors to balance stockholders' monetary interests, the...more
We are pleased to present the 2021 Delaware Corporate Law and Litigation Year in Review. A number of Delaware law and related corporate governance developments occurred in 2021 that should be of significant interest to...more
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently addressed whether an outside director’s use of another entity’s email account would require the director to turn over emails from that account in stockholder litigation relating to his...more
On September 20, 2021, the Delaware Supreme Court overruled its 2006 decision in Gentile v. Rossette, eliminating so-called "dual natured" simultaneous direct and derivative claims for breach of fiduciary duty. The decision...more
Earlier this week, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a significant decision reinforcing Delaware's strong policy favoring private ordering and giving effect to agreements among sophisticated stockholders. The decision...more
On April 30, 2021, then-Vice Chancellor (now Chancellor) Kathaleen S. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a post-trial decision addressing an array of important topics in the "busted deal" context following a...more
On May 3, 2021, Anthem, Inc. secured its win over Cigna Corp.'s pursuit of a $1.85 billion breakup fee following the collapse of their proposed $54 billion merger. In a brief order, Justice Karen L. Valihura, writing for the...more
5/6/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Anthem Insurance ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
CIGNA ,
Corporate Counsel ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers
Earlier this month, the Delaware Court of Chancery added to a string of significant recent decisions under Section 220, Delaware's books and records statute, this time addressing when a company may be required to provide...more
Last week, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a key decision addressing stockholders' rights to access books and records under Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Because the Supreme Court rarely weighs in on...more
On November 30, 2020, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a post-trial decision addressing contractual issues related to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sale of a collection...more
On August 13, 2020, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an opinion, JUUL Labs, Inc. v. Grove, C.A. No. 2020-0005-JTL (Del. Ch. Aug. 13, 2020), holding that a stockholder of a Delaware corporation headquartered in California...more
Acting in virtual sessions in June 2020, Delaware's General Assembly approved a set of amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) proposed by the state's bar association, which the governor subsequently signed...more
Although we all hope for a quick return to stability, the current environment raises the possibility of an increase in down-round financings—private company financings in which the company has a reduced valuation from its...more
Over the past week, several measures have been implemented to assist public companies impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in meeting their disclosure and governance obligations. These measures include, among others...more
On March 13, 2020, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (staff) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) issued guidance to assist companies, shareholders, and other market participants affected by...more
On December 18, 2019, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a 119-page post-trial memorandum opinion 1) rejecting a buyer's argument that the target company had breached representations and warranties in the parties' merger...more
1/7/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Breach of Contract ,
Buyers ,
Contract Termination ,
Corporate Governance ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Fraudulent Inducement ,
Material Adverse Effects ,
Merger Agreements ,
Mergers ,
Popular ,
Representations and Warranties ,
Sellers
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently denied two books and records demands made by stockholders of Facebook, Inc. that sought to investigate alleged wrongdoing surrounding Facebook's executive compensation practices at a...more
In a 137-page post-trial opinion, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled that an activist stockholder of PLX Technology (PLX) had acted through a principal who served on the PLX board of...more
10/25/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Activist Investors ,
Aiding and Abetting ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Mergers ,
Sale of Assets ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders
In a 246-page post-trial decision issued this week, the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled that a buyer could terminate a $4.75 billion public company acquisition because of material adverse effects that had occurred at the...more
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently addressed important issues concerning the information rights of directors designated by a significant stockholder, as well as a board committee's ability to withhold information from...more
The Delaware Court of Chancery issued a post-trial decision determining that a director who refused to cooperate in remediating flaws in the company’s capital structure breached his fiduciary duty of loyalty and owed damages...more
In another significant M&A decision from the New York Supreme Court, the controlling stockholder of a Delaware corporation failed to obtain judicial deference under the so-called "MFW" framework for its merger with the...more
Two courts recently issued significant corporate law decisions that are meaningful for corporations and investors navigating an M&A transaction or a proxy contest. Interestingly, both decisions arose outside of Delaware,...more
5/11/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Board of Directors ,
Bylaws ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Mergers ,
Popular ,
Proxy Contests ,
Shareholder Activism ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Xerox