News & Analysis as of

Shareholders Shareholder Rights Shareholder Litigation

Carey Olsen

Bermuda Court confirms personal right of action of company directors to end wrongful exclusion

Carey Olsen on

In two notable recent judgments, the Bermuda Supreme Court ruled that a director of a Bermuda company was entitled to an interim injunction prohibiting the company and its other directors from improperly excluding him from...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Don’t Call It a Comeback: A Decade Later, the Corwin Doctrine Still Packs a Knockout Punch

The Delaware Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Corwin v. KKR Financial Holdings LLC1 reshaped the landscape of merger and acquisition litigation by establishing a powerful defense for Delaware companies. Under the Corwin...more

Cozen O'Connor

Missouri AG Investigates Proxy Advisors Over ESG and DEI Practices

Cozen O'Connor on

Missouri AG Andrew Bailey announced that his office is investigating and has filed parallel lawsuits against Glass, Lewis & Co. (“Glass Lewis”) and Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”), two major corporate proxy...more

Goodwin

Shareholder Access to Privileged Documents: Views From England and the United States

Goodwin on

In England and the United States, legal professional privilege or attorney-client privilege is considered fundamental to the administration of justice, allowing clients to make confidential, full, and frank disclosure to...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Delaware Refines and Narrows the Statutory Landscape for Controlling Stockholders and Books & Records Requests

Last week, Delaware approved legislation overhauling the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL). As detailed below, the amendments to the DGCL ease certain restrictions applicable to “conflicted controller” transactions, and...more

Cooley LLP

Delaware Amends Section 220 – Will Scope of ‘Books and Records’ Production Be Limited?

Cooley LLP on

On March 25, 2025, the Delaware Legislature enacted Senate Bill 21, significantly amending the Delaware General Corporation Law. Among its notable changes is an effort to narrow document production under Section 220, which...more

Allen Matkins

Is Pareto Optimality The Answer For Controlling Stockholder Transactions?

Allen Matkins on

Yesterday's post concerned the Delaware Supreme Court's decision that the business judgment rule applied to TripAdvisor's decision to reincorporate in Nevada.  Maffei v. Palkon, 2025 WL 384054 (Del. Feb. 4, 2025).  This...more

Bennett Jones LLP

Redefining Corporate Disclosure of Material Change

Bennett Jones LLP on

The Potential Impact of the Supreme Court of Canada's Decision in Lundin Mining Corporation v. Markowich - As the Supreme Court of Canada (the SCC) prepares to deliver its decision in Lundin Mining Corporation v Dov...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Court Of Chancery Invalidates Stockholder Agreement Provisions That Deprive Board Of Key Decision-Making Powers

A&O Shearman on

On February 23, 2024, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery invalidated a number of significant provisions in a stockholder agreement between a financial institution (the “Company”) and its...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Delaware Court of Chancery Invalidates Common Governance Rights in Stockholder Agreement

Troutman Pepper Locke on

In West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Moelis & Company, the Delaware Court of Chancery invalidated a set of approval rights contained in a stockholder agreement as facially in conflict with Section 141(a) of the...more

Paul Hastings LLP

Delaware Chancery Court Invalidates Moelis Shareholder Agreement

Paul Hastings LLP on

On February 23, 2024, a decision by Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster in the Delaware Chancery Court invalidated parts of a shareholder agreement between Moelis & Company and its Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and founder,...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Delaware Chancery’s Moelis II Decision Provides Cautionary Tale for Boards and Activists

On February 23, 2024, Vice Chancellor Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued his 131-page decision in West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Moelis & Co., No. 2023-0309-JTL. The case involved a...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Delaware Court of Chancery Addresses Validity of Stockholder Agreement-Based Restrictions over Corporate Governance Matters

On February 23, 2024, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a decision concluding that some provisions of a stockholder agreement purporting to give a large stockholder various governance...more

Allen Matkins

Can "New Wave" Stockholder Agreements Catch A Wave In California?

Allen Matkins on

Professor Stephen Bainbridge recently commented on a decision by Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster finding that Section 141(a) of the Delaware General Corporation Law trumps most of the provisions of a so-called "new wave"...more

DarrowEverett LLP

Lessons For Founders From Sam Altman’s Short-Lived OpenAI Ouster

DarrowEverett LLP on

We’ve all read countless headlines and articles about the removal and swift return of Sam Altman as CEO of OpenAI over the past several weeks. Simply put, the nonprofit board voted to remove Altman as a result of a...more

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

You Say Hello. I Say Goodbye: The DnaNudge Case and Differences of Opinion on Share Conversions and Other Variations of Class...

Following a recent Court of Appeal decision, investors, portfolio companies and their advisers should be aware that English courts may, on occasion, adopt seemingly strained interpretations of ambiguous or unclear contract...more

Allen Matkins

Can One Shareholder Sue Another Shareholder For Breach Of Contract?

Allen Matkins on

One popular theory of the corporation is that it is a nexus of contracts.  As Frank Easterbrook and Daniel Fischel pithily pronounced "Corporations are enduring (relational) contracts."  F. Easterbrook and D. Fischel, The...more

Allen Matkins

Is It Possible For Shareholder To Remove The CEO?

Allen Matkins on

UCLA Law Professor Stephen Bainbridge recently answered the question of whether shareholders may remove a corporation's chief executive officer and chairman of the board from a Delaware perspective.  Like Delaware, California...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Delaware Court of Chancery Addresses Drag-Along Provisions and Covenants Not to Sue in the Private Company M&A Context

Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery recently issued a decision addressing whether a covenant not to sue set forth in a stockholders’ agreement is enforceable under Delaware law, with the result...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Delaware Court of Chancery Issues Important Ruling for Multi-Class Companies Addressing Class Votes

Earlier today, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued an important ruling concluding that two companies with multiple classes of common stock were not required, under the Delaware statute,...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Delaware Court of Chancery Concludes That Duty of Oversight Applies to Officers

In an important decision addressing an issue of first impression, the Delaware Court of Chancery determined that corporate officers owe a fiduciary duty of oversight under Delaware law. The case, In re McDonald’s Corporation...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

How to Navigate the Decision of Exercising Drag-Along Rights During an M&A Process

During an M&A process, the seller and its stockholders may consider whether it would be beneficial to exercise any drag-along rights under its stockholder agreements or equity plans. Drag-along rights generally allow a subset...more

WilmerHale

Recent Decisions From Delaware Court of Chancery Slow Trend Toward Wider Inspection in Corporate Books and Records Demands

WilmerHale on

Corporate books and records demands are on the rise. And as the Delaware courts have made it easier for shareholders to demonstrate a proper purpose to seek inspection, corporations increasingly must defend these actions by...more

Winstead PC

Appellate Court Grants Mandamus Relief To Require A Jury Trial On The Issue Of Whether The Inspection Of Books And Records Of A...

Winstead PC on

A common complaint of a minority shareholder is the denial of access to the corporation’s books and records. A shareholder enjoys the right to examine and copy certain records of the corporation in which the shareholder owns...more

Winstead PC

Litigating Minority Shareholder Rights - Presentation

Winstead PC on

David F. Johnson presented his paper “Business Divorce: Minority Shareholder Rights In Texas” to the State Bar of Texas’s Business Disputes Course on September 2-3, 2021. This presentation addressed shareholder oppression...more

44 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 2

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide