Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 167: Listen and Learn -- Direct and Derivative Actions (Corporations)
Board Diversity Podcast
Securities Litigation and Disclosure Issues
Podcast: CFTC Issues LIBOR Transition Relief for Swaps
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
Last month, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law Senate Bill 29 (SB 29), introducing significant amendments to the Texas Business Organizations Code (TBOC). Chief among these are the codification of the “business...more
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
While litigation risk is an unavoidable aspect of running a business, business owners can limit such risks with early planning. In this third installment of PilieroMazza’s blog series, “Managing Litigation Risk During the...more
Last week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law Texas Senate Bill 29, which includes a comprehensive package of amendments to the Texas Business Organizations Code aimed at reinforcing and revitalizing the governance...more
A year ago, I posited the question whether a derivative suit can survive a conversion. I raised that question in reference to Palkon v. Maffei, 2024 WL 678204 (Del. Ch. Feb. 20, 2024), in which the plaintiffs unsuccessfully...more
On May 14, 2025, Texas Governor Abbott signed Senate Bill 29 (“S.B. 29”) into law, significantly reforming the Texas Business Organizations Code (“TBOC”) to promote Texas as a preferred state of incorporation for both public...more
Derivative suits are a topic of discussion that continues to challenge directors, officers, and insurers alike. The issue is particularly fraught for individual directors and officers because Delaware-incorporated companies...more
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
To practitioners familiar with internal disputes involving closely held companies, the allegations in Lafayette Village Pub, LLC v. Burnham, 2025 NCBC 8, are nothing new. The member running the business (allegedly) made bad,...more
On February 27, 2025, Senator Bryan Hughes (R-Tyler) filed Senate Bill 29 (S.B. 29), proposing several corporate reforms designed to ensure that Texas remains the premier business-friendly jurisdiction in the nation. If...more
If you have ever been to the Flora-Bama, chances are you have passed by the Caribe Resort in Orange Beach, AL. The Caribe, like many beach resorts, is a condominium building containing individually owned residential units...more
While entity distinctness is a bedrock principle of corporate law, it may often appear redundant and unnecessary for a limited liability company (“LLC”) to sign its own operating agreement. That was likely the thinking of the...more
Bricklayers Pension Fund of W. Pa. v. Brinkley, C.A. No. 2022-1118-MTZ (Del. Ch. July 12, 2024) - In derivative cases where a stockholder-plaintiff has not made a pre-suit demand on the board of directors, demand futility...more
In re Kraft Heinz Demand Refused Derivative Stockholder Litig., Consol. C.A. No. 2022-0398-LWW (Del. Ch. July 19, 2024) - By making a demand, a stockholder-plaintiff tacitly concedes that the board can impartially consider...more
As we previously reported, in January 2024, the Court held in a stockholder derivative suit against the CEO and directors of a sustainable energy and electric vehicle company (the “Company”) that a record-setting $55.8...more
Pope v. Hycroft Mining Holding Corp., C.A. No. 2022-0957-LWW (Del. Ch. July 9, 2024) - In this decision, the Court of Chancery found the plaintiffs could not press class claims if they also pursue related individual...more
Under California Penal Code Section 496(a) a person who buys or receives any property that has been stolen or that has been obtained in any manner constituting theft or extortion, knowing the property to be so stolen or...more
When a shareholder sues derivatively, the shareholder is seeking relief not for itself, but for the corporation. Therefore, it should be expected that the shareholder is not free to compromise or dismiss the suit absent...more
Delaware corporations are not permitted to pursue profits by violating the law. Under Caremark and its progeny, directors’ fiduciary duties include the good faith obligation to oversee and monitor the corporation’s compliance...more
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
My last few posts have been devoted to the Court of Appeal's opinion in Tuli v. Specialty Surgical Center of Thousand Oaks, LLC, 2024 WL 4499271 (Oct. 16, 2024). The case relates to the plaintiff's "decade-long litigation...more
Under the business judgment rule, "a director is not liable for a mistaken business judgment which is made in good faith and in what he or she believes to be in the best interest of the corporation, where no conflict of...more
Traditionally, this has been the main type of derivative suit that has resulted in large settlements. Merger and acquisition cases are common here. Examples of these types of suits include Paramount Global (CBS-Viacom merger)...more
In re Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation Derivative Litigation, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, sitting en banc, overruled its prior decision in Blasband v. Rales that applied an...more