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 of The Informed Board, we go behind all the talk about companies reincorporating in states other than Delaware. In our lead article and our podcast, we point out that few companies actually moved, and we explain...more
5/16/2025
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Officers ,
Delaware ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Incorporation ,
Institutional Investors ,
Private Equity ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders ,
Spinoffs
Key Points -
- While there have been some vocal critics of Delaware corporations law, few major companies have reincorporated in other states, and Delaware incorporation continues to offer substantial benefits to companies...more
On July 11, 2024, the Supreme Court of Delaware, en banc, issued an important decision in Kellner v. AIM Immunotech Inc.,1 which arose from a challenge in the Delaware Court of Chancery involving advance notice bylaws that...more
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 January 24, 2023, Skadden presented the fourth and final part of our 15th Annual Securities Litigation and Regulatory Enforcement Update series, “Developments and Trends in Delaware Law: A Review of 2022 and What to Expect...more
Takeaways - Delaware courts have become more willing to allow stockholders to pursue claims that directors breached their duty to oversee risk management and compliance. Directors are most vulnerable to suits where they have...more
Derivative Litigation Eighth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Derivative Securities Action - Carpenters’ Pension Fund of Ill. v. Neidorff, No. 20-3216 (8th Cir. 2022) - Following Centene Corporation’s merger with Health Net,...more
9/12/2022
/ Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Derivative Suit ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Materiality ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders ,
SLUSA
Takeaways - Corporations can face a wave of stockholder actions purporting to enforce the corporations’ own legal rights, from books and records requests to derivative suits and litigation demands. In contrast to class...more
As discussed in prior issues, Delaware courts have recently refined and limited defenses to Section 220 books and records actions. No longer does a stockholder need to specify the ends to which it might use the books and...more
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases decided in August and September 2021.
Appraisal Rights - Delaware Supreme Court Enforces Sophisticated Investors’ Waiver of Appraisal...more
12/3/2021
/ Appraisal Rights ,
Arkansas Teacher Retirement System v Goldman Sachs Group ,
Board of Directors ,
Caremark claim ,
Cryptocurrency ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Demand Futility ,
Derivative Suit ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
FRCP 23(b) ,
FRCP 9(b) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
PSLRA ,
RICO ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Sherman Act ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Statute of Repose
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between November 2020 and January 2021.
Derivative Litigation -
Second Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment...more
3/8/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Board of Directors ,
Books & Records ,
Breach of Duty ,
Caremark claim ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Derivative Suit ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Loss Causation ,
Mergers ,
Pleading Standards ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Proxy Statements ,
PSLRA ,
Shareholder Litigation
This issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between October 2019 and January 2020. ...more
4/6/2020
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Books & Records ,
Breach of Duty ,
Bylaws ,
CEOs ,
Civil Liability ,
Collateral Estoppel ,
Criminal Convictions ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Demand Futility ,
Derivative Suit ,
Dismissals ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
False Statements ,
Federal Pleading Requirements ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Injunctions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Item 303 ,
Lack of Particularity ,
Mergers ,
Misleading Statements ,
Misrepresentation ,
Notice Requirements ,
Price-Fixing ,
PSLRA ,
Pyramid Schemes ,
Registration Statement ,
RICO ,
Scienter ,
Scope of Discovery Requests ,
Section 11 ,
Section 220 Request ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Violations ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholder Votes ,
Summary Judgment
Over the past two years, the deal litigation landscape has changed dramatically. In early 2016, the Delaware Court of Chancery announced a new rule for evaluating disclosure-based settlements in deal litigation — the “plainly...more
11/27/2017
/ Acquisitions ,
Choice-of-Law ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure-Based Settlements ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Forum Selection ,
Mergers ,
Mootness ,
Non-GAAP Financial Measures ,
Plainly Material Standard ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Standard of Review ,
Trulia
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
As previously discussed in Insights: The Delaware Edition, throughout the second half of 2015, the Delaware Court of Chancery began to question its long-standing practice of approving deal litigation settlements involving...more
5/21/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Disclosure-Based Settlements ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Forum Selection ,
Mergers ,
Mootness ,
Plainly Material Standard ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Stock Deals ,
Supplemental Disclosures ,
Trulia ,
Zillow