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Breach of Duty Fiduciary Duty DE Supreme Court

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

Delaware Supreme Court reverses acquirer’s aiding and abetting liability, setting high bar, following precedent set by its recent...

On June 17, 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court (Court), sitting en banc, reversed a Court of Chancery ruling that had held a bidder liable for aiding and abetting fiduciary breaches of the target’s management....more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Sets High Bar for Counterparty Aiding and Abetting Liability in M&A Deals

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The Delaware Supreme Court’s June 17, 2025 decision in In re Columbia Pipeline Group Merger Litigation reversed a $199 million damages award against TC Energy for aiding and abetting breaches by fiduciaries of Columbia...more

Cole Schotz

Plaintiffs Raise Constitutional Challenges to March 2025 Milestone Amendments to the DGCL; Delaware Governor Matt Meyer Files...

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As noted in our prior blog post, on March 25, 2025, significant amendments to the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the DGCL), were adopted by the Delaware General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Matt...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Expands MFW Applicability in Conflicted Controller Transactions

On April 4, 2024, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a much-anticipated decision, In re Match Group Derivative Litigation (“In re Match Group”), extending the MFW doctrine more broadly to all conflicted controller...more

Mayer Brown

In re Match Group, Inc.: Delaware Supreme Court Clarifies Standard of Review for Controlling Stockholder Transactions

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In a recent decision, the Delaware Supreme Court clarified the proper standard to apply to a non-freeze-out merger transaction involving a controlling stockholder. Litigators who practice in the Delaware Court of Chancery are...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

Conflict Between Delaware LLC Act and Bankruptcy Code Affects Creditor Toolbox

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As you know from our prior alerts, creditors of borrowers formed as Delaware LLCs (as opposed to corporations) lack standing under Delaware law to sue directors for breaching fiduciary duties even when, to the surprise of...more

Mintz - Bankruptcy & Restructuring Viewpoints

Delaware Bankruptcy Court Grants Derivative Standing to Creditors’ Committee to Sue Members and Officers of Delaware LLC

In early February, a Delaware bankruptcy judge set new precedent by granting a creditors’ committee derivative standing to pursue breach of fiduciary duty claims against a Delaware LLC’s members and officers. At least three...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Decision Shows Continued Momentum for Caremark Plaintiffs

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A recent opinion from the Delaware Supreme Court could be viewed by some as expanding plaintiffs’ ability to viably plead a duty of oversight (or “Caremark”) claim against directors. In Lebanon County Employees’ Retirement...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Books and Records Demands 2023 Recap: Courts Continue To Develop the Law Regarding the Scope of Inspection

As discussed in prior articles, stockholder plaintiffs have increasingly sought to obtain companies’ books and records under 8 Del. C. § 220 (Section 220) and the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act’s analogous provision,...more

Hogan Lovells

Q1 2023 Quarterly Corporate / M&A decisions updates

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M&A and shareholder litigation is off to a busy start in 2023, with Delaware courts issuing several interesting opinions. The Delaware Supreme Court reversed a Delaware Court of Chancery decision, finding that the “maximum...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Holds that Officers of a Delaware Corporation Are Subject to Fiduciary Duty of Oversight

In In re McDonald’s Corp. Stockholder Derivative Litigation, No. 2021-0324 (Del. Ch. Jan. 26, 2023), the Delaware Court of Chancery (Laster, V.C.) held that officers of a Delaware corporation are subject to a fiduciary duty...more

Cozen O'Connor

Amendment to DGCL §102(b)(7); Expanding Exculpation Rights to Apply to Corporate Officers

Cozen O'Connor on

For more than 35 years, Section 102(b)(7) of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (DGCL) has permitted a Delaware corporation to include a provision in its certificate of incorporation that eliminates or...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

Del. Bankruptcy Rulings Instruct on Creditors' Rights to Sue

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Creditors of distressed businesses are often frustrated by shareholder- controlled boards when directors pursue strategies that appear to be designed to benefit shareholders at the creditors' expense. In these...more

Pillsbury - Policyholder Pulse blog

Strengthening Corporate Officer Protection: Delaware’s Updated Corporate Exculpation Law and Its Impact on D&O Liability Insurance

As the preferred place of incorporation for most U.S. companies, Delaware has long been a leader in the development of statutory and common law on corporate governance. In keeping with this role, the Delaware legislature...more

White & Case LLP

Notable decisions from Delaware courts

White & Case LLP on

MultiPlan: Chancery court assesses fiduciary duties in the context of de-SPAC transactions - The Delaware Court of Chancery declined to dismiss, at the pleading stage, breach of fiduciary duty claims made against a SPAC's...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

Suing Directors of a Troubled Business: When Form Trumps Substance

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Creditors of distressed businesses are often frustrated by shareholder-controlled boards when directors pursue strategies that appear to be designed to benefit shareholders at the creditors’ expense. In these circumstances,...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Supreme Court Reverses Dismissal Of A Post-Merger Suit For Alleged Breach Of Fiduciary Duty Related To Disclosures On...

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On July 19, 2022, in an opinion authored by Justice Gary F. Traynor, a majority of the Supreme Court of Delaware sitting en banc affirmed in part and reversed in part the dismissal of breach of fiduciary duty claims against...more

Allen Matkins

A First Sighting Of Zuckerberg Decision In California

Allen Matkins on

Last year, the Delaware Supreme Court adopted a tripartite test for assessing demand futility allegations in derivative actions. United Food & Commercial Workers Union v. Zuckerberg 262 A.3d 1034 (Del. 2021). Under this...more

Morris James LLP

Delaware Corporate and Commercial Case Law Year in Review

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Our 2021 Top 10 list summarizes decisions from the Delaware courts likely to affect business transactions and business litigation going forward. Our criteria for selection are that the decision either meaningfully changed...more

Hogan Lovells

Q3 2021 Quarterly Corporate / M&A decisions updates

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Below is our Corporate / M&A decisions update covering decisions in the third quarter of 2021. This update is designed to highlight selected important M&A, corporate, and commercial court decisions on a quarterly basis. The...more

Hogan Lovells

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. v. Rosson: Gentile overturned, eliminating dual-natured claims

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In Brookfield Asset Management Inc. v. Rosson, the Delaware Supreme Court unanimously overturned its 2006 decision in Gentile v. Rossette, thereby eliminating the dual nature “Gentile carve-out” that allowed for both direct...more

Goodwin

Delaware Court of Chancery Dismisses Marriott Data Breach Derivative Suit

Goodwin on

Delaware Court of Chancery Dismisses Marriott Data Breach Derivative Suit; DOJ Announces Creation of National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team; Fifth Circuit Applies New Standard for Disgorgement Orders In Securities Cases to...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Supreme Court Overrules Gentile  Carve-out, Holding An Improper Transfer Of Economic Value And Voting Power To A...

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On September 20, 2021, in a decision authored by Justice Karen L. Valihura, the Delaware Supreme Court sitting en banc reversed the denial of defendants’ motion to dismiss breach of fiduciary duty claims brought by former...more

Goodwin

United Food’s “New” Delaware Demand Futility Test: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

Goodwin on

On September 23, 2021, in United Food and Commercial Workers Union v. Zuckerberg et al., the Delaware Supreme Court restated and refined the demand futility test for bringing shareholder derivative claims when it affirmed the...more

Goodwin

SCOTUS Grants Certiorari to Decide Whether Automatic Discovery Stay Applies to Securities Act Cases in State Court

Goodwin on

SCOTUS Grants Certiorari to Decide Whether Automatic Discovery Stay Applies to Securities Act Cases in State Court; Delaware Court of Chancery Dismisses Stockholder Suit Against FedEx for Failure to Make Pre-Litigation...more

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