On June 17, 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a post-trial finding of aiding and abetting liability against a third-party arm’s-length buyer. In doing so, the court built upon another recent decision and reaffirmed...more
6/20/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Aiding and Abetting ,
Appeals ,
Business Litigation ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Delaware ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Mergers ,
Shareholder Litigation
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
12/27/2023
/ Board of Directors ,
Books & Records ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corporate Officers ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Misappropriation ,
Section 220 Request ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders ,
Trade Secrets
On September 1, 2023, Vice Chancellor Paul A. Fioravanti, Jr. of the Court of Chancery delivered a decision finding that the president of a plaintiff company and a second business the president had formed and served...more
In a case of first impression, the Court of Chancery held recently that officers, like directors, owe their companies a duty of oversight, although the scope of that will vary with their responsibilities. Two other Chancery...more
6/12/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Aiding and Abetting ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
CEOs ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Officers ,
Data Preservation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Duty of Oversight ,
Evidence ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Mergers ,
Oracle ,
Oversight Duties ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Revlon ,
Shareholders ,
Spoliation
In March 2023, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a rare decision holding an officer personally liable for damages for breach of fiduciary duty under a post-closing Revlon enhanced scrutiny analysis. Specifically, the...more
6/12/2023
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Litigation ,
CEOs ,
Damages ,
Disclosure ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investors ,
Judicial Review ,
Liability ,
Private Equity Firms ,
Revlon ,
Shareholder Litigation
Takeaways -
The Delaware Supreme Court simplified the pleadings-stage test applied to derivative suits where no demand has first been made on the board.
Disputes about stockholder books-and-records requests focus...more
This issue covers important, developing areas of Delaware corporation law and deal litigation, including an increased focus on officer-related actions in merger litigation, the treatment of Caremark claims after Marchand and...more
Several recent Delaware decisions have analyzed allegations attempting to plead breach of fiduciary duty claims against executive directors even though the underlying transaction was approved by a...more
This issue focuses on important, developing areas of Delaware corporation law and deal litigation, including recent trends in Delaware corporate disclosure law, the Delaware Supreme Court’s important ruling in Marchand v....more
11/20/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Appraisal Rights ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Board of Directors ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Corporate Executives ,
Corporate Officers ,
Corwin Doctrine ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Deal Price ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Directors ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Fair Valuation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Adviser ,
Good Faith ,
Market Price ,
Material Misstatements ,
Mergers ,
MFW ,
Mootness Fee Applications ,
Omissions ,
Oversight Committee ,
Oversight Duties ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Shareholder Votes
On December 13, 2017, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an opinion, In re Investors Bancorp, Inc. Stockholder Litigation, Case No. 169, holding that, except under limited circumstances, the court will not apply the...more
12/20/2017
/ Appeals ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Judgment Rule ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Equity Plans ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Reversal ,
Self-Interest ,
Shareholder Approval ,
Standard of Review
Recent Delaware Supreme Court and Court of Chancery cases have continued to refine the impact and requirements of Corwin v. KKR Financial Holdings LLC, in which the Delaware Supreme Court held that the business judgment rule...more
5/8/2017
/ Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Burden of Proof ,
Business Judgment Rule ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Irrebuttable Presumptions ,
Mergers ,
Pleading Standards ,
Post-Closing Money Damages ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Standard of Review
This issue focuses on important, developing areas of Delaware corporation law and deal litigation, including the Court of Chancery’s clarification of its evolving views about disclosure-based deal litigation settlements;...more
5/21/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Aiding and Abetting ,
Board of Directors ,
Books & Records ,
Buyouts ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Demand Futility ,
Derivative Suit ,
Disclosure-Based Settlements ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Adviser ,
Mergers ,
Plainly Material Standard ,
Pleadings ,
Securities Litigation ,
Shareholder Demands ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Standard of Review
Recent Delaware cases have helped clarify the limits of what the Court of Chancery will consider in a books-and-records demand under 8 Del. C. § 220, and one case has adopted a novel condition that defendants may seek to...more
5/20/2016
/ Books & Records ,
Breach of Duty ,
Burden of Proof ,
Derivative Suit ,
Dismissals ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Mergers ,
Pleading Standards ,
Shareholder Demands ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Statute of Limitations
A trio of opinions from the Delaware Supreme Court, each authored by Chief Justice Leo E. Strine, Jr., has reaffirmed Delaware’s deference to the business judgment of disinterested corporate decision-makers and restored...more
10/23/2015
/ Appeals ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Judgment Rule ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Directors ,
Due Care ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Exculpatory Clauses ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Injunctions ,
Judicial Review ,
Mergers ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Pleadings ,
Revlon ,
Shareholder Votes ,
Vacated