Litigation developments: core M&A and corporate governance doctrines
Compliance Perspectives: Due Diligence and Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO)
In Ban v. Manheim, the Delaware Court of Chancery held that the exercise of a call right against a stockholder of a Delaware corporation was invalid under Section 202 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) because the...more
The Governor of Delaware has signed into law Senate Bill 21 (SB 21), which amends certain sections of the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) governing controlling stockholder transactions under DGCL Section 144 and...more
On March 25, 2025, Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer signed into law significant amendments to §§ 144 and 220 the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL)....more
On March 25, 2025, the Delaware legislature and Governor enacted landmark amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law that will have significant impacts for Delaware corporations and transaction planning. The...more
On February 17, 2025, Delaware’s legislative leaders and Governor announced landmark legislation and initiatives that would, if enacted into law, result in welcome and much-needed amendments to Delaware corporate law to...more
On January 28, 2025, Skadden hosted a webinar on recent developments in Delaware corporate law. Skadden partners Howard Ellin (Mergers and Acquisitions/New York), Ed Micheletti (Litigation/Wilmington) and Jenness Parker...more
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently dismissed a “hybrid” of Malone1 false disclosures and Caremark oversight claims brought by two stockholder plaintiffs. In In re FibroGen, Inc. Derivative Litigation,2 Vice Chancellor...more
In January 2022, Vice Chancellor Lori Will of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a groundbreaking opinion in In re MultiPlan Corp. Stockholders Litigation that paved the way for SPAC stockholders to bring direct breach of...more
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
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
Section 1601 of the California Corporations Code grants any shareholder the right to inspect the accounting books, records, and minutes of board and shareholder meetings for a purpose reasonably related to the shareholder's...more
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
On October 13, 2021, Vice Chancellor Joseph R. Slights of the Delaware Court of Chancery denied a request for injunctive relief in a stockholder action against the board of CytoDyn (the “Company”). Rosenbaum v. Cyotodyn...more
Yesterday, I listed to a talk by Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery entitled "Purpose, Power, and Fiduciary Duty: Dimensions of Delaware's Corporate Law Regime". The webinar was presented by...more
The federal government has introduced proposed regulations that would, among other things, change the director election process for certain corporations established under the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA). The...more
On October 2, 2020, Vice Chancellor Kathaleen S. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery denied a motion to dismiss breach of fiduciary duty claims brought by stockholders of Mindbody, Inc. (the “Company”) against two of...more
When the minority stockholders of a Nevada corporation, Scientific Games Corporation sued the company’s controlling stockholder and members of its allegedly “handpicked” board of directors for breaches of fiduciary duty and...more
In this recent post, UCLA Law School Professor Stephen Bainbridge discusses Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster's recent ruling that "stockholder inspection rights are a core matter of internal corporate affairs." 2020 Del....more
This top ten list summarizes significant decisions of the Delaware Supreme Court and the Delaware Court of Chancery over the past calendar year 2018. Originally published in Transaction Advisors....more
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
The Delaware Chancery Court ordered Dole Food Co. Inc. CEO David Murdock and General Counsel Michael Carter to pay Dole shareholders $148 million for fraud in connection with the company’s 2013 take-private deal. The August...more