Tyler O'Connell on Breach of Duty

Chancery Reasons That Board’s Decision To Address Alleged “Red Flags” Related To Pending Litigation, After Litigation Is Resolved,...

Pettry v. Smith et al., C.A. No. 2019-0796-JRS (Del. Ch. June 28, 2021) - As discussed in Caremark and its progeny, fiduciary duties require directors to monitor the business and affairs of a corporation. Here, the Court...more

7/13/2021 / Board of Directors , Breach of Duty , Caremark claim , Demand Futility , Derivative Suit , Fiduciary Duty

Chancery Rejects Plaintiff’s Attempt to Recharacterize Pre-Suit Demands

The Raj & Sonal Abhyanker Fam. Tr. v. Blake, C.A. No. 2020-0521-KSJM (June 17, 2021) - Court of Chancery Rule 23.1 presents a would-be derivative plaintiff with two exclusive options: make a pre-suit demand on the board to...more

7/13/2021 / Board of Directors , Breach of Duty , Demand Futility , Derivative Suit , Fiduciary Duty , Shareholders

Chancery Finds No Transaction-Specific Control Where Plaintiffs Failed to Allege that a Majority of the Members of a Special...

In re GGP Inc. Stockholder Litig., C.A. No. 2018-0267-JRS (Del. Ch. May 25, 2021). Under MFW and its progeny, if there is a conflicted controlling stockholder, then in order to receive the benefits of the business...more

6/29/2021 / Breach of Duty , Controlling Stockholders , Fiduciary Duty , Independent Directors

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

6/23/2021 / Board of Directors , Breach of Duty , Derivative Suit , Fiduciary Duty , Shareholder Litigation , Shareholders

Delaware Court of Chancery Applies Direct/Derivative Distinction In Voting Context

Clifford Paper, Inc. v. WPP Investors, LLC, 2021 WL 2211694 (Del. Ch. Jun. 1, 2021) - The disenfranchisement of an investor with voting or consent rights often is considered to be a direct harm, thus permitting the...more

6/23/2021 / Breach of Contract , Breach of Duty , Duty of Loyalty , Fiduciary Duty , Investors

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

4/27/2021 / Board of Directors , Breach of Duty , Caremark claim , Demand Futility , Derivative Suit , Fiduciary Duty , Shareholders

Chancery Holds Prior Rulings in Appraisal and Securities Litigation Do Not Bar New Columbia Pipeline Fiduciary Duty Action

In re Columbia Pipeline Group, Inc. Merger Litigation, C.A. No. 2018-0484-JTL (Del. Ch. Mar. 1, 2021) Certain judicial doctrines, including collateral estoppel and stare decisis, promote efficiency and finality by barring...more

4/6/2021 / Appraisal , Breach of Duty , Collateral Estoppel , Fiduciary Duty , Mergers

Superior Court Finds Securities Lawsuits Do Not Fall within Relatedness Exclusion of Insurance Policy

Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, Inc. v. Zurich American Insurance Company, C.A. No. N18C-09-210 (Del. Super. Ct. Feb. 2, 2021) - This case arises from an insurance coverage dispute between an insured and multiple...more

4/1/2021 / Breach of Duty , Denial of Insurance Coverage , Fiduciary Duty , Insurance Industry , Securities Litigation

Chancery Holds That a Deadlock Warranting Dissolution Can Be Genuine Even If the Circumstances Giving Rise to the Deadlock Were...

Mehra v. Teller, C.A. No. 2019-0812-KSJM (Del. Ch. Jan. 29, 2021) - In a dispute over the validity of the dissolution of a limited liability company, the Court of Chancery held in a post-trial opinion that a deadlock...more

3/9/2021 / Breach of Duty , Dissolution , Fiduciary Duty , Limited Liability Company (LLC)

Delaware Supreme Court Adopts Post-Merger Derivative Standing Framework From In re Primedia, Inc. Shareholders Litigation

Morris v. Spectra Energy Partners (DE) GP, LP, No. 489, 2019 (Del. Jan. 22, 2021) - In Delaware corporate law, “the standing inquiry has assumed special significance,” especially in the post-merger context. The Delaware...more

2/15/2021 / Breach of Duty , DE Supreme Court , Derivative Suit , Fiduciary Duty , Mergers , Shareholder Litigation

Chancery Dismisses Stockholder’s Claim that Directors Provided Materially-Deficient Notice of their Intent to Use Equity Bonus...

Pascal v. Czerwinski, C.A. No. 2020-0320-SG (Del. Ch. Dec. 16, 2020) - This decision concerned a motion to dismiss a stockholder’s direct claim that Director-Defendants breached their duties by providing a...more

2/9/2021 / Board of Directors , Breach of Duty , Derivative Suit , Fiduciary Duty , Shareholders

Chancery Excuses Demand Where General Partner and its Controller Faced Substantial Likelihood of Liability

Lipman v. GBP Capital Holdings, LLC, C.A. No. 2020-0054-SG (Del. Ch. Nov. 18, 2020) - In derivative actions, a plaintiff must either make a pre-suit demand or plead with particularity why demand should be excused. As this...more

1/25/2021 / Breach of Duty , Demand Futility , Derivative Suit , Fiduciary Duty , Limited Partnerships

Chancery Dismisses Derivative Action for Failure to Plead Demand Futility Despite Unocal Enhanced Scrutiny

Gottlieb v. Duskin, C.A. No. 2019-0639-MTZ (Del. Ch. Nov. 20, 2020) - Defendants moved to dismiss a derivative action for failure to plead demand futility under Rule 23.1. The complaint alleged that the director...more

1/22/2021 / Board of Directors , Breach of Duty , Demand Futility , Derivative Suit , Fiduciary Duty , Shareholders

Chancery Dismisses Defendants From Action Against Their Own Wishes, Describing the Matter as an “Erewhon-like” Inversion of the...

Stimwave Technologies Inc. v. Laura Tyler Perryman, C.A. No. 2019-1003-SG (Del. Ch. Nov. 17, 2020) - Under Court of Chancery Rule 41(a), a Delaware plaintiff may voluntarily dismiss its own complaint without prejudice,...more

1/6/2021 / Aiding and Abetting , Breach of Duty , Fiduciary Duty , Motion for Summary Judgment , Motion to Dismiss

Mindbody Deal Case Provides Conflict Takeaways For Boards

The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent decision in In re: Mindbody Inc. Stockholders Litigation is important reading for lawyers whose practices include evaluating, addressing and — when necessary — litigating potential...more

12/4/2020 / Board of Directors , Books & Records , Breach of Duty , Fiduciary Duty , Section 220 Request , Shareholder Litigation , Shareholders

Chancery Questions Utility of Aronson Test, Dismisses Derivative Suit of Facebook Stockholder for Failure To Allege Demand...

United Food and Comm. Workers Union v. Zuckerberg, C.A. No. 2018-0671-JTL (Del. Ch. Oct. 26, 2020) - In its recent decision in United Food and Comm. Workers Union v. Zuckerberg, the Court of Chancery discussed the legal...more

12/3/2020 / Breach of Duty , Demand Futility , Derivative Suit , Fiduciary Duty , Pleadings , Shareholder Litigation , Shareholders

Chancery Invokes Internal Affairs Doctrine to Dismiss Dispute Over Former Delaware Corporation Brought Over Two Years After Its...

Sylebra Capital Partners Master Fund, LTD v. Perelman, et. al., C.A. No. 2019-0843-JRS (Del. Ch. Oct. 9, 2020) - Defendant Scientific Games Corporation (the “Company”) is a gaming and lottery company that reincorporated in...more

12/2/2020 / Board of Directors , Breach of Duty , Bylaws , Fiduciary Duty , Internal Affairs Doctrine , Motion to Dismiss

Chancery Upholds Class Claims Alleging Breaches of Fiduciary Duty in Alleged Controlling Stockholder’s Tender Offer

In re Coty Inc. Stockholder Litigation, C.A. No. 2019-0336-AGB (Del. Ch. Aug. 17, 2020) - JAB Holding Company S.à.r.l. and its affiliates (together “JAB”) completed a partial tender offer (the “Tender Offer”) for shares...more

10/12/2020 / Breach of Contract , Breach of Duty , Controlling Stockholders , Fiduciary Duty

Chancery Dismisses Claim for Breach of Fiduciary Duty Where Parties’ Commercial Relationship Was One of Ordinary Care

Nieves v. Insight Building Co., LLC, C.A. No. 2019-0464-SG (Del. Ch. Aug. 4, 2020) - The Court of Chancery used an unlikely vehicle — a dispute over stormwater drainage — to further explain the limits of common law...more

10/1/2020 / Breach of Duty , Building Permits , Construction Industry , Fiduciary Duty

Chancery Holds That Management Does Not Have Unilateral Authority to Preclude a Director From Obtaining the Company’s Privileged...

In Re WeWork Litig., Consol. C.A. No. 2020-0258-AGB (Del. Ch. Aug. 21, 2020) - In October 2019, The We Company’s (the “Company”) board of directors established a special committee (the “Special Committee”) to evaluate a...more

9/28/2020 / Board of Directors , Breach of Contract , Breach of Duty , Controlling Stockholders , Discovery , Fiduciary Duty , Privileged Communication

Chancery Rules Failure to Disclose “Intrinsic Value” Precludes Corwin Defense – But Does Not Necessarily Suggest a Breach of the...

In In re USG Corp. S’holder Litig., 2020 WL 5126671 (Del. Ch. Aug. 31, 2020), the Court of Chancery granted the director-defendants’ motions to dismiss post-closing money damages claims arising out of the sale of USG...more

9/17/2020 / Acquisitions , Board of Directors , Breach of Duty , Duty of Loyalty , Fiduciary Duty , Shareholder Litigation

Chancery Denies Sellers’ Request for Dismissal, Finding That Fraud Claims Were Timely Filed and Properly Pled

Agspring Holdco, LLC v. NGP X US Holdings, L.P., C.A. No. 2019-0567-AGB (Del. Ch. July 30, 2020) - This opinion concerns a buyer’s attempt to plead fraud in connection the acquisition of a business. The Court denied in the...more

9/9/2020 / Breach of Duty , EBITDA , Fiduciary Duty , Fraud , Private Equity

Chancery Rejects Bid to Jettison USACafes and its Holding That, Absent Agreement to the Contrary, the Controllers of a Corporate...

Fannin v. UMTH Land Development, L.P. (In re: United Development Funding III, L.P.), C.A. No. 12541-VCF (Del. Ch. Jul. 31, 2020). The Court of Chancery has concluded that in certain situations, equity will, by default,...more

9/8/2020 / Board of Directors , Breach of Contract , Breach of Duty , Fiduciary Duty , Limited Partnerships

Chancery Dismisses Complaint Challenging Dilution for Lack of Standing and Failure to State a Claim

Hindlin v Gottwald, C.A. No. 2019-0586-JRS (Del. Ch. July 22, 2020) - The plaintiff, a minority investor (“Plaintiff”) in a Delaware limited liability company, Core Nutrition, LLC (the “Company”), brought an action for...more

9/3/2020 / Breach of Duty , Derivatives , Fiduciary Duty , Limited Liability Company (LLC) , LLC Agreements

Entire Fairness Standard Applies Where Controller Has Substantive Discussions with Minority Stockholders before Agreeing to MFW...

In re HomeFed Corporation Stockholder Litigation, C.A. 2019-0592-AGB (Del. Ch. July 13, 2020) - This case illustrates that the Court of Chancery will apply the entire fairness standard to review a squeeze-out merger by a...more

8/26/2020 / Breach of Duty , Business Judgment Rule , Controlling Stockholders , Entire Fairness Standard , Fiduciary Duty , Mergers , Standard of Review

Tyler O'Connell

Morris James LLP

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