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Breach of Duty Shareholder Litigation Delaware General Corporation Law

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

Cooley LLP

In Rare Dismissal of Up-C Reorganization Case, Chancery Court Holds That Claim Is Derivative, Not Direct 

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On April 10, 2025, the Delaware Court of Chancery granted a motion to dismiss in a breach of fiduciary duty action arising from BGC’s conversion from an Up-C corporation to a traditional full C corporation. While multiple...more

Allen Matkins

Nevada Supreme Court: Chapter 7 Filing Defeats Shareholder Breach Of Fiduciary Claim

Allen Matkins on

Globe Photos, Inc. owned a portfolio of millions of images of celebrities and musicians, including Marilyn Monroe, the Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix, some taken by famous photographers such as Frank Worth.  Despite these assets,...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Finds Sufficiently Pled Fiduciary Duty Claims Relating to De-SPAC Transaction

Morris James LLP on

Solak v. Mountain Crest Capital LLC, et al., C.A. No. 2023-0469-SG (Del. Ch. Oct. 18, 2024) - The Court of Chancery found that the plaintiff stated legally-sufficient claims in connection with a merger transaction against...more

Flaster Greenberg PC

Amendments to Delaware General Corporation Law

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On March 25, Delaware amended two (2) sections of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) in response to reports that prominent corporations are considering leaving Delaware in light of several significant court...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Determines Certain Suits and Investigations Against Amazon Were Insufficient to Meet Credible Basis Standard to Inspect...

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Wong Leung Revocable Tr. v. Amazon.com Inc., C.A. No. 2023-1251-BWD (Del. Ch. May 1, 2024) - In order to inspect books and records under Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, a stockholder-plaintiff must...more

Bennett Jones LLP

Delaware Court Affirms High Threshold for Breach of Directors' Caremark Duties

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In a recent case, Bricklayers Pension Fund of Western Pennsylvania (derivatively on behalf of Centene Corporation) v Brinkley (Centene), Delaware's Court of Chancery dismissed “Caremark duty claims”—named after the 1996 case...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Chancery Court Applies Entire Fairness To State Of Incorporation Conversions

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On February 20, 2024, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery denied in part and granted in part a motion to dismiss a stockholder action against TripAdvisor, Inc. and its parent (together, the...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Court Of Chancery Invalidates Stockholder Agreement Provisions That Deprive Board Of Key Decision-Making Powers

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On February 23, 2024, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery invalidated a number of significant provisions in a stockholder agreement between a financial institution (the “Company”) and its...more

Bennett Jones LLP

Delaware Courts Confirm High Standard for Breach of Oversight Duty Applies Equally to Officers and Directors

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In the United States, corporate directors and, as confirmed by the Delaware Court in McDonald’s Corp. Stockholder Derivative Litigation (McDonald), corporate officers owe, as a subset of their duty of loyalty, a duty to...more

Venable LLP

Fiduciary Liability Limitations Under Nevada Law Trigger Entire Fairness Review of Conversion from Delaware Due to Controlling...

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The Delaware Court of Chancery, in Palkon v. Maffei, et al., C.A. No. 2023-0449-JTL (Del. Ch. Feb. 20, 2024), determined that a reduction in the liability exposure of a fiduciary due to the conversion of a Delaware...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Court Of Chancery Holds That Controlling Stockholder Conduct Did Not Breach Fiduciary Duties But Rendered Buyout...

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On January 24, 2024, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery awarded a stockholder plaintiff class more than $18 million, finding that the acquisition of the “Hometown” division of Sears Hometown...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Court Of Chancery Rejects Claims Related To The Acquisition Of An Alleged Controller’s Portfolio Company For Failure To...

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On December 28, 2023, Vice Chancellor Morgan T. Zurn of the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed derivative breach of fiduciary duty and other claims asserted by a plaintiff shareholder after nCino, Inc. (the “Corporation”)...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

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Officer Exculpation and the Silicon Valley 150

Effective August 1, 2022, Section 102(b)(7) of the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) was amended to permit a Delaware corporation to include in its charter a provision eliminating or limiting the personal liability of...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Court of Chancery Finds Revlon Violation For Founder Who Favored Buyer And Failed To Disclose, And Aiding & Abetting...

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On March 15, 2022, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled that the founder and former CEO of Mindbody Inc. (the “Company”) breached his fiduciary duties to stockholders in connection with the...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

In Rare Decision, Delaware Court of Chancery Imposes Liability on CEO and Acquiror Post-Trial

On March 15, 2023, Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a rare post-trial decision finding a CEO personally liable for millions of dollars in damages for breaching his fiduciary...more

Allen Matkins

Is This The Case That Ate Delaware Corporate Law?

Allen Matkins on

In a recent feature published by the Washington Legal Foundation, UCLA Professor Stephen Bainbridge casts a jaundiced eye toward Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster's recent ruling in In re McDonald's Corp. Stockholder Deriv....more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Delaware Court of Chancery Concludes That Duty of Oversight Applies to Officers

In an important decision addressing an issue of first impression, the Delaware Court of Chancery determined that corporate officers owe a fiduciary duty of oversight under Delaware law. The case, In re McDonald’s Corporation...more

DarrowEverett LLP

Life May Not Be Fair, But Interested Party Transactions Should Be

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When a court reviews contested business transactions of a Delaware corporation, they typically rely on one of two standards of review: the “business judgment rule” or the “entire fairness standard.” The business judgment rule...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Court Of Chancery Issues Post-Trial Judgment In Favor Of Defendant, Rejecting Stockholder’s Section 220 Books And Records...

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On June 1, 2022, Vice Chancellor Lori W. Will of the Delaware Court of Chancery entered judgment in favor of defendant retail company (the “Corporation”), rejecting a demand for corporate books and records under Delaware...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Court Of Chancery Sustains Class Action Claims For Breaches Of Fiduciary Duties And Aiding And Abetting Arising From...

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On January 3, 2022, Vice Chancellor Lori W. Will of the Delaware Court of Chancery largely denied a motion to dismiss a putative class action brought by the stockholders of Churchill Capital Corp. III, a special purpose...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

A&O Shearman

Delaware Court Of Chancery Declines To Dismiss Derivative Claims, Finding Wrongful Refusal Of Demand Adequately Pleaded

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On October 29, 2021, Vice Chancellor Lori W. Will of the Delaware Court of Chancery denied a motion to dismiss derivative claims for breach of fiduciary duties brought by stockholders of BioDelivery Sciences International,...more

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