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Anonymous Sources in Newspaper Articles Sufficed to Sustain Credible Evidentiary Basis for Books and Records Demand Investigating...

Stockholders in a Delaware corporation are entitled to inspect certain of the company’s books and records, under Delaware General Corporation Law Section 220. A prerequisite to inspection is that the stockholder has a proper...more

Chancery Decision Provides Instructive Guidance on Referencing Private Agreements in Corporate Charters and Bylaws

Seavitt v. N-able, Inc., C.A. No. 2023-0326-JTL (Del. Ch. July 25, 2024) - Earlier this year, the Court of Chancery in West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Moelis (“Moelis”) invalidated a stockholders’ agreement...more

Chancery Finds that Would-Be Caremark Plaintiffs Failed to Plead Demand Futility

Bricklayers Pension Fund of W. Pa. v. Brinkley, C.A. No. 2022-1118-MTZ (Del. Ch. July 12, 2024) - In derivative cases where a stockholder-plaintiff has not made a pre-suit demand on the board of directors, demand futility...more

Delaware Supreme Court Reverses MFW Dismissal Due to Inadequate Disclosures Regarding Special Committee’s Advisors’ Material...

City of Sarasota Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Inovalon Holdings Inc., No. 305, 2023 (Del. May 1, 2024). The Delaware Supreme Court’s decision in Khan v. M & F Worldwide Corp. (“MFW”) established a cleansing process for a...more

Minority Stockholder Was Not a Controller Because Plaintiff Did Not Adequately Plead Actual Control of the Company’s Business...

It is axiomatic that directors and officers of a Delaware corporation owe fiduciary duties to stockholders (and the company). Controlling stockholders also owe fiduciary duties. A stockholder is deemed a controller either...more

Court of Chancery Dismisses Aiding And Abetting Fraud Claim Against Corporate Officers And Directors On Grounds That A Corporation...

Urvan v. AMMO, Inc., Consol. C.A. No. 2023-0470 PRW (Del. Ch. Feb. 27, 2024, corrected Mar. 14, 2024) - It is an axiom of Delaware law that a corporation acts through its human agents. This principle informs the causes of...more

Chancery Invokes the Implied Covenant to Invalidate Shareholder Rights Plan

Whitestone REIT Operating Partnership L.P. v. Pillarstone Capital REIT, C.A. No. 2022-0607-LWW (Del. Ch. Jan. 25, 2024) - In Delaware, the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing is inherent in all contracts and...more

Chancery Largely Denies Books-and-Records Inspection Exploring Dividend Potential

Greenlight Capital Offshore Partners, LTD., v. Brighthouse Financial Inc., C.A. No. 2022-1067-LWW (Del. Ch. Nov. 20, 2023) - Valuation is a well-established proper purpose to inspect corporate books and records. While each...more

Supreme Court Upholds Contractual Voidness Provision in LLC Agreement

Holifield v. XRI Investment Holdings, LLC, No. 407, 2022 (Del. Sept. 7, 2023) - This decision concerned the disputed transfer of a member's LLC units. Below, the Court of Chancery held that the disputed transfer was...more

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

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

Chancery Declines to Modify Status Quo Order to Allow Partial Performance of Pending Settlement

In re AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. Stockholder Litigation, Consol. C.A. No. 2023-0215-MTZ (Del. Ch. Apr. 5, 2023) - In various contexts, upon request or stipulation, the Court of Chancery will impose status quo orders,...more

Chancery Examines Director’s Personal Ties and Dismisses Duty of Loyalty Claim

In re Orbit/FR, Inc. S’holders Litig., C.A. No. 2018-0340-SG (Jan. 24, 2023) - This decision involved a stockholder challenge to a merger between Orbit and its controller, Microwave Vision....more

Court of Chancery Awards Plaintiffs Attorneys’ Fees and Costs in Section 225 Action for Obtaining a Substantial Benefit for the...

Totta v. CCSB, LLC, C.A. No. 2021-0173-KSJM (Del. Ch. Nov. 3, 2022) - Delaware follows the “American Rule”: each party bears its own legal fees and expenses. However, there are certain exceptions. This includes the...more

Imposing “A Remedy Of First Impression,” Chancery Divests Party Of Stock Ownership As A Post-Judgment Contempt Sanction Under Rule...

In re Stream TV Networks, Inc. Omnibus Agreement Litig., C.A. No. 2020-0776-JTL (Del. Ch. Oct. 3, 2022) - Court of Chancery Rule 70 speaks to the Court’s discretion in fashioning sanctions for failure to comply with a...more

Chancery Suggests Alternative Approach To Contracts Providing That Prohibited Acts Are Void Ab Initio

XRI Investment Holdings LLC v. Holifield, et al., C.A. No. 2021-0619-JTL (Del. Ch. Sept. 13, 2022) - Under precedents such as CompoSecure, L.L.C. v. CardUX, LLC (Del. 2018), acts defined by an LLC agreement as “void” or...more

Delaware Supreme Court Enforces Class Vote Requirement, Reasons There Is No Insolvency Exception to Section 271 Of The Delaware...

Stream TV Networks, Inc. v. SeeCubic, Inc., No. 360, 2021 (Del. June 15, 2022) - Section 271 of the Delaware General Corporation Law provides, among other things, that a majority vote of stockholders is required to sell...more

Chancery Dismisses Derivative Claims That Private Equity Sponsors Comprised A Control Group

Patel v. Duncan, C.A. No. 2020-0418-MTZ (Del. Ch. Sept. 30, 2021) - For stockholders to comprise a control group, the alleged group members must be connected in some “legally significant way – such as by contract, common...more

Stockholders Lack Derivative Standing to Challenge Transactions Whose Terms Were Set Before They Became Stockholders

In re SmileDirectClub, Inc., 2021 WL 2182827 (Del. Ch. May 28, 2021) - Under the “contemporaneous ownership rule,” to have standing to bring derivative claims, stockholders in a Delaware corporation must own stock at the...more

Chancery Confirms the Challenges in Pleading Caremark and Non-Shareholder Action Disclosure Claims

Fisher v. Sanborn, C.A. No. 2019-0631-AGB (Del. Ch. Mar. 30, 2021) - Under Court of Chancery Rule 23.1, a plaintiff attempting to bring a derivative action on behalf of a corporation faces a heightened “particularized”...more

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