News & Analysis as of

Fiduciary Duty Appeals Shareholder Litigation

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

Delaware Supreme Court reverses acquirer’s aiding and abetting liability, setting high bar, following precedent set by its recent...

On June 17, 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court (Court), sitting en banc, reversed a Court of Chancery ruling that had held a bidder liable for aiding and abetting fiduciary breaches of the target’s management....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

Hogan Lovells

Delaware Supreme Court applies business judgment rule in litigation claiming speculative benefits to the board

Hogan Lovells on

The Supreme Court of Delaware reversed the Court of Chancery's application of the entire fairness standard to a company's decision to redomesticate. In the proceedings below, the minority shareholders of TripAdvisor, Inc. and...more

Morris James LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Applies Business Judgment Rule, Dismisses Stockholder Claims Arising from TripAdvisor’s Nevada...

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On an interlocutory appeal from a decision denying a motion to dismiss, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed, holding that stockholder challenges to TripAdvisor’s decision to reincorporate in Nevada were governed by the...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Sets High Bar for Counterparty Aiding and Abetting Liability in M&A Deals

Vinson & Elkins LLP on

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...

Cole Schotz on

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

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Reaffirms Protection of Arm’s-Length Bargaining

On June 17, 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a post-trial finding of aiding and abetting liability against a third-party arm’s-length buyer. In doing so, the court built upon another recent decision and reaffirmed...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

A Tardy Plaintiff’s Best Friend: The Open Repudiation Doctrine

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Pre-answer motions to dismiss for untimeliness are exceptionally common in business divorce litigation. Statute of limitations analysis can be deceptively simple in theory, but elusively difficult in practice, even for...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

New York Court of Appeals Reaffirms the Internal Affairs Doctrine for Foreign Corporations

In Ezrasons, Inc. v. Rudd, 2025 NY Slip Op. 03008, 2025 N.Y. LEXIS 717 (N.Y. May 20, 2025), the New York Court of Appeals reaffirmed the fundamental and controlling nature of the internal affairs doctrine as it relates to the...more

A&O Shearman

New York Court Of Appeals Affirms Dismissal Of Derivative Action Brought By Shareholder Of Foreign Corporation, Holding That New...

A&O Shearman on

On May 20, 2025, the New York Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a derivative action asserting claims for breach of fiduciary duty against officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws of England...more

Morris James LLP

Supreme Court Affirms Chancery Rulings in Derivative Litigation Challenging Oracle’s NetSuite Acquisition

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In re Oracle Corp. Deriv. Litig., C.A. No. 2017-0337 (Del. Jan. 21, 2025) - The Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Chancery’s decision in favor of the defendants in a derivative suit challenging Oracle’s acquisition of...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Demand Futility, Dissolution, and Transfer Restrictions: Spring Blooms Fresh Developments in LLC Litigation

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

In addition to blooming trees and longer days, spring in New York has ushered in a fresh crop of noteworthy decisions on intra-LLC disputes.  Headliners include a boost to members’ rights to compel an accounting courtesy of...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

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Reverses Court of Chancery on Standard of Review Applicable to Reincorporation Transactions in...

In its unanimous decision rendered on February 4, 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed the Delaware Court of Chancery’s ruling in the widely followed “TripAdvisor” case (Palkon v. Maffei) regarding the standard of review...more

Cooley LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Reverses Chancery Court, Holds Business Judgment Review Applicable to Tripadvisor’s Decision to...

Cooley LLP on

Delaware corporations contemplating conversion to another state should take note of the Delaware Supreme Court’s recent decision in Maffei, et al. v. Palkon, et al., in which the court ruled that Tripadvisor’s decision to...more

Conyers

Lau Man Sang, James and Others v. King Bun Limited and Others BVIHCMAP2021/0034

Conyers on

On 7 July 2023, the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal handed down judgment in BVIHCMAP 2021/0034 Lau Man Sang, James and Others v. King Bun Limited and Others. Conyers represented the successful Respondents before the Court...more

Goodwin

Eleventh Circuit Overturns Dismissal of Cryptocurrency Ponzi Scheme Class Action Suit

Goodwin on

IN THIS ISSUE - Eleventh Circuit Overturns Dismissal of Cryptocurrency Ponzi Scheme Class Action Suit; Federal Court of Appeals Dismisses Leading Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Shareholder Lawsuits; NY Seeks Blockchain...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Holds That Dilution Claims Against a Controller Are Solely Derivative, Overruling Prior Precedent

Fenwick & West LLP on

On September 20, 2021, the Delaware Supreme Court took the highly unusual step of overruling its prior decision in Gentile v. Rossette. An oft-criticized precedent from 2006, Gentile created an exception allowing minority...more

Goodwin

Northern District of California Dismisses Shareholder Derivative Suit Concerning Lack of Diversity

Goodwin on

Northern District of California Dismisses Shareholder Derivative Suit Concerning Lack of Diversity; Delaware Court of Chancery Dismisses Stockholder Suit Against Medical Device Company for Failure to Plead Demand Futility;...more

Goodwin

Northern District of California Kicks Shareholder Derivative Suit Against Alphabet, Inc. for Failing to Allege Demand Futility

Goodwin on

Northern District of California Kicks Shareholder Derivative Suit Against Alphabet, Inc. For Failing to Allege Demand Futility; Rare Securities “Holder’s Claim” Trial Results in Jury Verdict for Defendants; Delaware Court of...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

In re Pace Industries, LLC: Minority Shareholder With Bankruptcy Consent Rights Considered Controlling Minority Shareholder With...

Vinson & Elkins LLP on

A recent bench ruling in In re Pace Industries, LLC1 by Judge Walrath for the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the “Court”) has validated a chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by certain debtors in the jointly...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Recent Trends in Books and Records Litigation

Recently, the frequency of stockholder demands to inspect corporate books and records pursuant to Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law has increased. In turn, the case law concerning Section 220 demands is...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

Chris Lazarini Examines Standards for Proving Breach of Fiduciary Duty

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC on

Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini examined a case in which a group of shareholders alleged the company and two individual defendants breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders, and an investment bank aided and...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

INSIGHT: New Corporate Board Procedures Advisable to Satisfy Duty of Oversight

Foley & Lardner LLP on

In Marchand v. Barnhill, a unanimous Delaware Supreme Court imposed substantial new procedural expectations on corporate directors to satisfy their fiduciary duty of oversight related to material risk areas and legal...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Supreme Court Affirms Judgment In Favor Of Defendant On The Basis Of Plaintiffs' Failure To Prove Damages

A&O Shearman on

On May 16, 2019, the Supreme Court of Delaware affirmed a judgment by Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery in favor of Potomac Capital Partners II, LP on claims by shareholder plaintiffs that the...more

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