News & Analysis as of

Bylaws Shareholder Litigation Delaware General Corporation Law

Venable LLP

Chancery Court Dismisses Equitable Challenge to Advance Notice Bylaws as Unripe

Venable LLP on

Invoking the recent Delaware Supreme Court decision Kellner v. AIM ImmunoTech Inc., 320 A.3d 239 (Del. 2024) (“Kellner”), the Court of Chancery held that equitable challenges to the enforceability of advance notice bylaws are...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Clarifies Standards Applicable To Advance Notice Bylaws

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

Jenner & Block

Client Alert: Delaware Court of Chancery Defines Controlling Stockholder Fiduciary Duties: In Re Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores,...

Jenner & Block on

When do controlling stockholders, exercising their voting power or selling stock, owe fiduciary duties to a Delaware corporation and its minority stockholders? This thorny question in corporate law may have a new answer...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Delaware Supreme Court Affirms Important Ruling for Multi-Class Companies Concerning Class Votes

On January 17, 2024, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a significant decision affirming that the Delaware General Corporation Law (the DGCL) does not require companies with multiple classes of common stock to obtain separate...more

DarrowEverett LLP

Lessons For Founders From Sam Altman’s Short-Lived OpenAI Ouster

DarrowEverett LLP on

We’ve all read countless headlines and articles about the removal and swift return of Sam Altman as CEO of OpenAI over the past several weeks. Simply put, the nonprofit board voted to remove Altman as a result of a...more

Allen Matkins

Don't Say You Weren't Warned! Court Of Appeal Declines To Enforce Delaware Forum Selection Clause In Delaware Corporation's...

Allen Matkins on

Ten years ago, I questioned in this space whether a Delaware forum selection charter provision would survive constitutional scrutiny if it involved a de facto waiver of a jury trial...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Finds Stockholder Conferred a Substantial Corporate Benefit by Challenging the Joint Vote of Two Classes of Common Stock...

Morris James LLP on

Garfield v. Boxed Inc., C.A. No. 2022-0132-MTZ (Del. Ch. Dec. 27, 2022). Section 242(b)(2) of the DGCL requires the separate approval of different classes of stock for charter amendments that, inter alia, “increase or...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Advancing Forward — Delaware Courts Provide Further Guidance on Incumbent Board Enforcement of Advance Notice Bylaws

In late 2021 and early 2022, two decisions from the Court of Chancery addressing advance notice bylaws reiterated, consistent with long-standing Delaware law, that clear and unambiguous advance notice bylaws will be...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Finds it Lacks Discretion to Decline Jurisdiction Over a Case Where Jurisdiction Exists Under Section 111 of the DGCL

Morris James LLP on

S’holders Rep. Serv. LLC v. DC Capital Partners Fund II, L.P., C.A. No. 2021-0465-KSJM (Del. Ch. Feb. 14, 2022) - While the Court of Chancery has exclusive subject matter jurisdiction over claims and remedies sounding in...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Delaware Court of Chancery Blesses MFW Process and Dismisses Challenge to Stockholder-Approved Charter Amendment Extending...

On July 29, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a noteworthy decision confirming the broad application of the "MFW" framework—based on the Delaware Supreme Court's decision in Kahn v. M & F Worldwide Corp., 88 A.3d 635...more

K&L Gates LLP

Seventh Circuit Strikes Down Delaware Forum Selection Clause and Clears Path to Federal Court for Securities Exchange Act Claims

K&L Gates LLP on

The Seventh Circuit issued a resounding message: Delaware forum selection clauses in corporate bylaws cannot lawfully prevent a plaintiff from bringing claims under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act or the...more

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

Seventh Circuit Denies the Enforceability of Boeing’s Forum-Selection Bylaw, Reviving Derivative Suit

As discussed in a previous client alert, The Boeing Company (Boeing) has faced shareholder litigation arising from the fatal crashes of two 737 MAX airplanes. In one such derivative suit filed under Section 14(a) of the...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Affirms the Use of Stockholders Agreements to Waive Appraisal Rights

In Manti Holdings, LLC v. Authentix Acquisition Co., Inc., No. 354, 2020, 2021 WL 4165159 (Del. Sept. 13, 2021), the Delaware Supreme Court issued an important opinion affirming the use of stockholders agreements by and among...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Rules That Corporations May Require Securities Act Claims to be Litigated in Federal Court

Fenwick & West LLP on

The Delaware Supreme Court recently ruled that corporations may require stockholders to litigate claims under the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act) in federal court, holding that such forum provisions in corporate...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

2019 Delaware Corporate Law and Litigation Year In Review

In 2019, the Delaware courts issued a broad range of important decisions addressing various corporate law and governance issues—including board compensation, controlling stockholder conflicts, board oversight obligations, M&A...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

2018 Delaware Corporate Law and Litigation Year In Review

In 2018, the Delaware courts issued a broad range of important decisions addressing various corporate law and governance issues. Those decisions are relevant for public and private companies and will help shape...more

Mintz - Securities Litigation Viewpoints

Delaware Chancery Court Holds Corporations Cannot Enact Federal Forum Provisions To Bypass Cyan and Preclude State Courts from...

In 2017, courts across this country were split on whether plaintiffs could assert a class action alleging claims under the Securities Act of 1933 (which provides a private right of action against issuers and others for...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Companies Can't Require Litigation of 1933 Act Claims in Federal Court

Fenwick & West LLP on

The Delaware Court of Chancery ruled today that Delaware corporations do not have the power to use charter or bylaw provisions to require that claims under the Securities Act of 1933 (1933 Act) be litigated in federal court....more

Allen Matkins

Court Of Appeal Finds No Right To Jury In Shareholder Class Action

Allen Matkins on

In several blog posts, I have commented on the right to a jury trial under California law. This may seem like an inapposite subject for a blog devoted to corporate and securities law issues. Nonetheless, I have...more

Allen Matkins

California Judge Honors Delaware Forum Selection Bylaw

Allen Matkins on

In May, I wrote about Judge Peter H. Kirwan’s ruling in Drulias v. 1st Century Bancshares, Inc., (Cal. Super. Ct. Case No. 16-CV-294673, Nov. 18, 2016). As readers may recall, Judge Kirwan declined to approve a disclosure...more

K&L Gates LLP

Delaware Chancery Court Confirms the Invalidity of Fee-Shifting Bylaws for Stock Corporations

K&L Gates LLP on

In Solak v. Sarowitz, C.A. No. 12299-CB (Del. Ch. Dec. 27, 2016), the Delaware Court of Chancery held that plaintiff stated a claim that a stock corporation’s fee-shifting bylaw was facially invalid under Section 109(b) of...more

K&L Gates LLP

Chancery Court Confirms that the Removal of Directors Serving on Unclassified Boards and Elected by Plurality Voting Cannot Be...

K&L Gates LLP on

In In re VAALCO Energy, Inc. Consolidated Stockholder Litigation, C.A. No. 11775 VCL (Del. Ch. Dec. 21, 2015) (Transcript), the Delaware Court of Chancery confirmed that the certificate of incorporation or bylaws of a...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Insights: The Delaware Edition - October 2015

We are pleased to share with you the inaugural issue of Insights: The Delaware Edition, a periodic publication addressing significant Delaware deal litigation and corporation law developments. In This Issue: - Q&A...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

"Recent Amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law Address Fee-Shifting and Forum Selection Provisions"

It has become almost axiomatic that when a public company merger is announced, stockholder litigation quickly follows. In recent years, some studies have indicated that more than 90 percent of transactions valued at more than...more

Cooley LLP

Blog: Is There A Gaping Hole In The Proposed Delaware Legislation On Fee-Shifting Bylaws?

Cooley LLP on

Leave it to a distinguished law professor to actually read the text of proposed legislation and locate the gaping hole in it. In this post, “Delaware Throws a Curveball,” Professor John Coffee analyzes the proposed Delaware...more

35 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 2

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide