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Forum Selection Shareholder Litigation

Kennedys

Delaware Court of Chancery forum selection clause found enforceable by California Supreme Court, despite depriving plaintiff the...

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Delaware corporations headquartered in California can now successfully move to dismiss investor suits filed in California when the corporations’ governing documents contain forum selection clauses mandating the Delaware Court...more

Fenwick & West LLP

California Supreme Court Upholds Delaware Forum Selection Clause

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On July 21, 2025, the California Supreme Court issued an opinion in EpicentRx, Inc. v. Superior Court of San Diego County, overturning the lower courts’ decision to decline enforcement of a forum selection clause requiring...more

Goodwin

California Supreme Court Delivers Major Win for Delaware Forum-Selection Clauses

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On July 21, 2025, the California Supreme Court issued a decision in EpicentRx, Inc. v. Superior Court of San Diego County, which held that an exclusive forum-selection clause designating a forum where a civil jury trial would...more

Allen Matkins

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

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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

Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

M&A in Brief: Q1 2024

In a letter ruling, the Delaware Chancery Court held that where neither the target nor the acquiror was a Delaware entity, the transaction documents between the parties could not confer jurisdiction in the Chancery Court...more

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

Reexamining the Enforceability of Forum-Selection Provisions

Forum-selection provisions have become an increasingly common tool for managing corporate litigation risks. By including these provisions in their charters or bylaws, corporations can designate an exclusive forum — most...more

Allen Matkins

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

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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

Woodruff Sawyer

Mind The Gap: State Forum Selection Provisions

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Companies that are serious about managing director and officer litigation risk have been adopting choice of forum provisions. Such provisions continue to permit shareholders to sue directors and officers if shareholders want...more

Goodwin

Supreme Court Delivers Key Defense Victory by Limiting Section 11 Claims in Direct Listings - and Again Calling for a Rigid...

Goodwin on

On June 1, 2023, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion that makes it more difficult for shareholders to bring Section 11 claims against companies that go public via direct listings. The case involved a...more

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

En Banc Panel of the Ninth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Derivative Suit Based on Forum-Selection Clause

In a recent 6-5 ruling, an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a derivative suit asserting Exchange Act violations against The Gap, Inc. and its directors. The district court had dismissed the suit —...more

Goodwin

Delaware Court of Chancery Holds Buzzfeed Not Bound by Pre-SPAC Merger Employment Agreements

Goodwin on

On October 28, 2022, Vice Chancellor Morgan T. Zurn of the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled that the declaratory action brought by Buzzfeed Inc. against 91 current and former employees is not bound by arbitration provisions...more

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

Ninth Circuit Agrees To Rehear Derivative Suit Previously Dismissed Based on Forum Selection Bylaw

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently agreed to rehear en banc the dismissal—based on a Delaware exclusive forum selection bylaw provision—of a shareholder derivative suit asserting violations of Section 14(a) of the...more

Hogan Lovells

Lee v. Fisher: Circuit split on enforceability of forum-selection clauses - Corporate / M&A Decisions update series

Hogan Lovells on

In Lee v. Fisher, 34 F.4th 777 (9th Cir. 2022), the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a shareholder derivative suit against The Gap Inc. (Gap), alleging violations of Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of...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

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Seventh and Ninth Circuits Split Over the Scope of Exclusive Forum Provisions

Earlier this year the United States Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Ninth Circuits each addressed the question of whether an exclusive forum provision adopted by a Delaware company and requiring derivative litigation...more

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

9th Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Derivative Suit in Favor of Forum Selection Clause Designating Delaware Court of Chancery as...

As we have previously discussed, Lee v. Robert J. Fisher et al., Case No. 20 Civ. 6163 (N.D. Ca.), is one of a growing number of derivative lawsuits brought against public companies (in this case, The Gap Inc.) alleging...more

K&L Gates LLP

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

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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

Jenner & Block

Seventh Circuit Overrides a Forum Selection Bar in Federal Securities Lawsuits

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A recent ruling by the Seventh Circuit in Seafarers Pension Plan v. Bradway addresses the issue of where shareholder derivative lawsuits may be filed when the company at issue has a forum selection clause in its bylaws. 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

Jones Day

Recent Developments in Shareholder Derivative Litigation Concerning Diversity in Corporate Leadership

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The Situation: A number of shareholder derivative lawsuits in federal court have been filed seeking to hold directors and officers of major companies accountable for alleged failures to uphold their companies' stated...more

Proskauer - Corporate Defense and Disputes

All-Seeing Bylaws Help Block Diversity Suit

The rash of shareholder derivative actions alleging violations of fiduciary duties tied to companies’ diversity measures are continuing to take a beating in the Northern District of California. We previously posted about the...more

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

California Federal Court Enforces Delaware Forum Bylaw and Dismisses Derivative Shareholder Suit Including Exchange Act Proxy...

We have discussed in previous alerts a spate of shareholder lawsuits alleging corporate fiduciary breaches and securities law violations tied to the defendant company’s alleged failure to fulfill diversity aspirations. ...more

Proskauer - Corporate Defense and Disputes

Another Diversity Suit Tossed on Forum Selection Grounds

This week, another shareholder derivative suit was dismissed based on a forum selection clause contained in the company’s bylaws. In November 2020, a shareholder filed a derivative action alleging that directors and officers...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

California District Court Dismisses Derivative Suit Against Facebook Board Members and Executives Challenging Alleged Lack of...

On March 19, 2021, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ordered the dismissal of Natalie Ocegueda v. Zuckerberg, Case No. 20-cv-04444-LB, a shareholder derivative suit purportedly on behalf...more

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