News & Analysis as of

California Shareholder Litigation

DLA Piper

Legal Shopping Spree Continues in Internal Affairs Disputes: Key Case Developments

DLA Piper on

The first half of 2025 saw numerous developments in the strategies and counterstrategies between corporations and their stockholders in efforts to find the most favorable law and courts to decide disputes between them....more

Snell & Wilmer

California Supreme Court Resolves Long-Running Dispute Over Delaware Forum Selection Clauses

Snell & Wilmer on

In a closely watched decision issued on July 21, 2025, the California Supreme Court, in EpicentRx, Inc. v. Superior Court, held that a forum selection clause requiring shareholder lawsuits to be brought in the Delaware Court...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

California Court of Appeal Holds That Derivative Litigation Settlement Procedural Rules Apply Even In Intra-Shareholder Suits in...

In Norman v. Strateman, No. A170356, 2025 WL 1802786 (Cal. App., 1st Dist., June 20, 2025), the California Court of Appeal held that a settlement of derivative claims reached among all shareholders of a close corporation was...more

A&O Shearman

Northern District Of California Grants Motion To Dismiss In Securities Class Action Against Footwear Company

A&O Shearman on

On June 23, 2025, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of the Northern District of California granted a motion to dismiss a consolidated securities class action brought against a footwear and apparel company (the “Company”) and...more

Wiley Rein LLP

California Federal Court Holds Exception to I v. I Exclusion Restores Coverage for D&O Claim Based on Dilution of Shares

Wiley Rein LLP on

The United States District Court for the Southern District of California, applying California law, has held that an exception within an insured vs. insured (I v. I) exclusion of a D&O policy restored coverage for a suit...more

Allen Matkins

Complaint Need Not Allege Fraud, Misrepresentation, Or Deceit To Be "Based Upon" A Corporation’s “Fraud, Misrepresentation or...

Allen Matkins on

In 2002, the California Legislature created the Victims of Corporate Fraud Compensation Fund as part of the Corporate Disclosure Act. There are a number of conditions that must be met to receive a payout from the fund.  One...more

Allen Matkins

Is Bullock v. Rivian the Nail in the Coffin for California State 1933 Act Claims?

Allen Matkins on

Last month in Bullock v. Rivian Automotive, California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal became the latest to enforce a federal forum provision (FFP) embedded in a Delaware corporation’s charter and affirmed dismissal of a...more

Allen Matkins

Is Delaware Forum Selection Bylaw Binding On Shareholder Who Filed Suit When The Corporation Was Incorporated In California?

Allen Matkins on

In Drulias v. 1st Century Bancshares, Inc. 30 Cal. App. 5th 696 (2018), the plaintiff was a shareholder in a Delaware corporation whose board of directors approved a merger agreement and at the same time adopted a forum...more

Woodruff Sawyer

Securities Motion to Dismiss Trends (Part 1): The Northern District of California

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In securities class actions, the motion to dismiss is the key event. If the company wins, the case goes away and costly discovery is avoided. If shareholders win, a significant settlement in the future is likely. In these...more

Allen Matkins

So You Want To Sue "The Board", Is That Even Possible?

Allen Matkins on

A little more than eight years ago, I wrote about U.S. District Court Judge Ronald M. Whyte's ruling that a corporate board of directors lacks the capacity of being sued.  Theta Chi Fraternity, Inc. v. Leland Stanford Junior...more

Allen Matkins

Just What Are The Duties Of A Controlling Shareholder And How Should Claims Of Breach Be Brought?

Allen Matkins on

In a recent post, Professor Stephen Bainbridge discusses the question of when a controlling shareholder owes fiduciary duties to minority shareholders.  Knowing when controlling shareholder owes fiduciary duties is one thing,...more

Allen Matkins

Can "New Wave" Stockholder Agreements Catch A Wave In California?

Allen Matkins on

Professor Stephen Bainbridge recently commented on a decision by Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster finding that Section 141(a) of the Delaware General Corporation Law trumps most of the provisions of a so-called "new wave"...more

Allen Matkins

Form Unknown? There's A Statute For That

Allen Matkins on

The California Code of Civil Procedure sets forth the general rules governing the service of summons.  Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 415.10 - 415.95.  Chapter 17 of the General Corporation Law adds to these provisions.  In some...more

Allen Matkins

California's Narrow Codification Of The Internal Affairs Doctrine

Allen Matkins on

It is sometimes said that California Corporations Code section 2116 "codifies" the internal affairs doctrine.  See, e.g.,  Drulias v. 1st Century Bancshares, Inc., 30 Cal. App. 5th 696, 705, 241 Cal. Rptr. 3d 843, 851...more

Allen Matkins

Court of Appeal Applies Caremark/Marchand To Directors of a California Corporation But The Result May Surprise You

Allen Matkins on

Over the years, I have commented on the fact that the California Court of Appeal has yet to apply In re Caremark International Inc., 698 A.2d 959 (Del. Ch. 1996) to the directors of a California corporation. Last Friday,...more

Allen Matkins

When Does A Corporation Deny Inspection "Without Justification"?

Allen Matkins on

Four years ago, I wrote about an unpublished decision by the Court of Appeal concerning shareholder inspection rights under the California General Corporation Law.  The denouement of that opinion was that the shareholder was...more

Allen Matkins

Is The Right To Sue Officers A Power, Preference Or Special Right?

Allen Matkins on

Earlier this month the Electrical Workers Pension Fund, Local 103, I.B.E.W. filed a verified class action complaint in the Delaware Court of Chancery against Fox Corporation.  (Case No. 2022-1007-MTZ (filed Nov. 4, 2022)). ...more

Allen Matkins

The General Corporation Law's Filioque

Allen Matkins on

The Nicene Creed as approved by the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D. included the following: "τὸ ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκπορευόμενον (who proceeds from the father).  About 200 years later at the Third Council of Toledo, the...more

Allen Matkins

Alleged Corporate Murder Merits A Jury Trial

Allen Matkins on

The California Constitution declares that trial by jury is an "inviolate right" that "shall be secured to all".  Cal. Const. Art. I, §16.  Despite this expansive language, this right in the civil context is generally limited...more

Allen Matkins

Supreme Court's Decision In Famous Hale & Norcross Mining Case

Allen Matkins on

Having read Professor Stephen Bainbridge's post about the origins of the judicial doctrine that directors must act on an informed basis, I passed along a reference to the California Supreme Court's in Fox v. Hale & Norcross...more

Allen Matkins

A Preference For Minority Rule?

Allen Matkins on

Section 204(a)(9) of the California Corporations Code allows the articles of incorporation to include a provision requiring the approval of the shareholders (Section 153) or the approval of the outstanding shares (Section...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

A&O Shearman

California Appellate Court Affirms Decision To Dismiss Putative Securities Class Action Against Hair Implantation Company Because...

A&O Shearman on

On April 28, 2022, the First Appellate District Court of Appeals for the State of California affirmed the dismissal of putative securities class action against a hair transplant technology company (the “Company”) alleging...more

Allen Matkins

Bill Would Urgently Remove Limitation On Virtual Shareholder Meetings And Allow Utopian Meetings

Allen Matkins on

The last sentence of California Corporations Code Section 600(e) imposes a significant limitation on the ability of California corporations to hold virtual-only meetings...more

Allen Matkins

Some Information That You Won't Find On The Secretary Of State's Website

Allen Matkins on

The California Secretary of State's website provides certain information with respect to a wide range of domestic and foreign entities registered to transact intrastate business, including corporations, limited liability...more

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