In this issue, we explore ongoing corporate law issues involving controlling stockholders, with significant decisions anticipated from the Delaware Supreme Court in 2025; the rise in litigation over earnout provisions in...more
In 2024, Delaware courts continued to address important areas of corporate law, particularly regarding controlling stockholders. Several of those high-profile decisions were decided at the trial level and are now on appeal....more
What Steps Does a Board Need to Take to Ratify a Defective Corporate Act? 1. Draft a Resolution. For each act that needs ratification, the resolution must include: (a) the defective act, (b) the date the act...more
Actions taken within business entities are sometimes deemed invalid due to procedural defects. For corporations, section 119 of the Corporations Code establishes a clear procedure by which defective actions can be ratified...more
Throughout the life cycle of a company, and especially during the leaner early start-up stages, corporate actions that are defective due to failures to obtain the correct board or shareholder votes, errors in the approval...more
It's that time of year again. The holidays are upon us, and the end of the year is drawing near. As we reflect on the unprecedented past year, many of us begin to look forward and think, "What's next?" With a New Year...more
As discussed in an earlier edition of Insights: The Delaware Edition, Sections 204 and 205 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) provide methods for Delaware corporations to unilaterally ratify defective corporate...more
On November 13, 2018, Skadden held our webinar “Preparing for the Shareholder Proposal Season.” The panelists were Peter da Silva Vint, Vice President of BlackRock’s Americas Investment Stewardship Group; Michael Garland,...more
On February 13, 2018, Skadden hosted a webinar titled “ SEC Reporting & Compliance and Corporate Governance Series: Key Trends in Executive Compensation, Employment Law and Compensation Committee Practices.” Executive...more
On December 13, 2017, the Delaware Supreme Court issued In re Investors Bancorp, Inc. Stockholder Litigation, Case No. 169. The holding of this case could be particularly impactful to Delaware corporations because of its...more
In In re Investors Bancorp, Inc. Stockholder Litigation, No. 169, 2017, 2017 WL 6374741 (Del. Dec. 13, 2017), the Delaware Supreme Court limited the ability of directors to assert the stockholder ratification defense when...more
• The Delaware Supreme Court delivered a gift to the plaintiffs' bar with its recent opinion reversing the Court of Chancery's In Re Investors Bancorp, Inc. Stockholder Litigation decision. • This decision, the first...more
• Directors were not entitled to stockholder ratification defense where stockholders only approved the general parameters of director and employee bonuses • This marks the first time in nearly 60 years that Delaware’s...more
In re Investors Bancorp Inc. Stockholder Litigation, No. 169, 2017 (December 13, 2017) - There has been some uncertainly over the effect of stockholder approval of stock option plans for directors, such as does that...more
Since they became effective in 2014, Sections 204 and 205 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) have provided mechanisms for a corporation to unilaterally ratify defective corporate acts or seek relief from the Court...more
In reading Chancellor Andre G. Bouchard’s ruling yesterday in Espinoza v. Zuckerberg, 2015 Del. Ch. LEXIS 273 (Del. Ch. 2015), I was reminded of the theological debate among Christians concerning justification by faith. The...more
Etymologically, one might view the meaning of “ratify” as to make as one had thought. It is derived from two Latin words – ratus (the past participle of the verb meaning to think) and facere (the infinitive of the verb...more
On June 24, 2015, Delaware Governor Jack Markell approved several important amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”),[1] with such amendments generally becoming effective on August 1, 2015. These...more
The 78th Session of the Nevada Legislature made a number of changes to provisions of Title 7 of the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) governing business entities, including corporations, limited liability companies and limited...more
Corporate directors routinely make decisions regarding their own compensation. If challenged by stockholders, such decisions are generally reviewed by Delaware courts under the onerous "entire fairness" standard, which...more
Companies cannot merely rely upon shareholder approval to obtain protection under the business judgment rule. While the courts in Delaware do frequently apply the standard of waste to claims of breach of fiduciary duty and...more