In Segway Inc. v. Hong Cai, 2023 Del. Ch. LEXIS 643 (Del. Ch. Dec. 14, 2023), the Delaware Court of Chancery (Will, V.C.) dismissed a claim for breach of fiduciary duty brought by Segway Inc. (the “Company”) against its...more
12/28/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Litigation ,
Caremark claim ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Officers ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Mergers ,
Oversight Duties
In Anderson v. Magellan Health, Inc., No. 2021-0202, — A.3d —-, 2023 WL 4364524 (Del. Ch. July 6, 2023) (McCormick, C.), the Delaware Court of Chancery addressed the circumstances under which the Court will award a...more
7/18/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Litigation ,
Corporate Governance ,
Delaware ,
Disclosure ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Mergers ,
Proxy Statements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders
Merger agreements involving acquisitions of private companies often contain terms creating post-merger obligations or “earnouts” in favor of certain classes of selling stockholders. To address potential claims that may arise...more
In Flood v. Synutra Int’l, Inc., No. 101, 2018, 2018 Del. LEXIS 460 (Del. Oct. 9, 2018), the Delaware Supreme Court (Strine, C.J.) held that a controlling stockholder who pursues a merger with the controlled company will have...more
10/18/2018
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Breach of Duty ,
Bright-Line Rule ,
Business Judgment Rule ,
Buyouts ,
Class Action ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Due Care ,
Duty of Care ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Mergers ,
Minority Shareholders ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Shareholder Litigation
Stockholder claims alleging wrongful dilution are typically considered to be derivative in nature. Several decisions out of Delaware, however, have created exceptions to this general rule allowing stockholders to sue...more
1/20/2017
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Appeals ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Contract ,
Breach of Duty ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Derivative Suit ,
Dilution ,
Direct Suit ,
Master Limited Partnerships ,
Mergers ,
Mootness ,
Parent Corporation ,
Partnership Agreements ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reversal ,
Self-Dealing ,
Shareholders ,
Standing ,
Tortious Interference
As recently as 2014, nearly 95% of all mergers of public companies valued at $100 million or more triggered stockholder class action litigation. Historically, a large number of merger-related stockholder litigation settled...more
In Houseman v. Sagerman, C.A. No. 8898-VCG, 2014 WL 1478511 (Del. Ch. Apr. 16, 2014), the Delaware Court of Chancery (Glasscock, V.C.) granted, in part, a motion to dismiss filed by certain directors and the financial advisor...more
5/13/2014
/ Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Mergers ,
Pleading Standards ,
Pleadings ,
Professional Liability ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders
In In re Answers Corp. Shareholders Litigation, C.A. No. 6170-VCN, 2014 WL 463163 (Del. Ch. Feb. 3, 2014), the Delaware Court of Chancery (Noble, V.C.) granted summary judgment in favor of defendants in a stockholder class...more