CorpCast Episode 2: Advancement 101
Under Delaware law, executives (and former executives) may be entitled to indemnification and advancement from their employer for claims arising in connection with their employment. These rights to indemnification/advancement...more
When representing a client, it is helpful when law and logic align in an obvious manner. But alignment of law and logic sometimes appears murky at best, and often directly at odds. An example of this is when you need to...more
Directors, officers and other members of management often have the right under a company’s organizational documents to have defense costs advanced during the pendency of a covered case, investigation or other proceeding. If...more
Serving as a company official—whether an LLC manager or an officer or director of a corporation—can sometimes be a risky prospect. Company officials on occasion find themselves at the center of complex litigation solely...more
The Harmon 1999 Descendants’ Trust v. CGH Investment Management, LLC, C.A. No. 2021-0407-KSJM (Sept. 21, 2021) - Generally, absent unusual circumstances, claims for advancement will not be stayed or dismissed in favor of...more
Perryman v. Stimwave Tech. Inc., C.A. 2020-0079-SG (Del. Ch. Apr. 15, 2021) - Section 145 of DGCL permits corporations to grant advancement rights to persons who may be entitled to indemnification so that they may fund...more
Under the so-called “American Rule,” litigants usually must pay their own lawyer fees. But in business divorce and other private company disputes between business co-owners, there are a variety of ways for individual...more
In Ephrat v. medCPU, Inc., C.A. No. 2018-0852-MTZ (Del. Ch. June 26, 2019), the Court of Chancery found that conduct occurring after Eyal Ephrat and Sonia Ben-Yehuda (together, “Petitioners”) left their positions warrants...more
I’ve long been intrigued with the frequency of litigation — especially in Delaware Chancery Court — over advancement of legal fees of a corporate director or officer or LLC manager who’s the target of a lawsuit by the entity...more
Notwithstanding we’ve had no more than a dusting of snow thus far in my downstate New York neck of the woods, welcome to another edition of Winter Case Notes in which I visit my backlog of recent court decisions of interest...more
Judge Robinson boldly went where no North Carolina Judge writing published Opinions had gone before last month in the case of Wheeler v. Wheeler, 2018NCBC117. The subject was a corporate officer’s right to the advancement of...more
When an executive becomes embroiled in a dispute with an employer, the executive tends to take it personally. And when the executive’s conflict is with the government, the executive’s sense of outrage ratchets up even more....more
In Davis et al v. EMSI Holding Co., the Delaware Court of Chancery held that officers and directors of an acquired company were entitled to advancement under the acquired Company’s by-laws for expenses incurred in defending...more
Sergey Aleynikov, a former computer programmer at Goldman, Sachs & Co., has been on a legal roller coaster for the past few years. In the span of few days, that roller coaster plummeted steeply—twice. First, on January...more
In a recent Delaware Court of Chancery case - Hyatt v. Al Jazeera America Holdings II, LLC, C.A. No. 11465-VCG - Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III of the Delaware Court of Chancery took on a “familiar” issue with a “twist”:...more
This is an interesting advancement case as it applies the usual test of whether the former directors have been sued “by reason of the fact” they were directors in the context of suit against former owners’ representative for...more
Tulum Management USA LLC v. Casten, C.A. 11321-VCN (November 9, 2015) - A Delaware court will not stay its hand in favor of litigation elsewhere in an advancement or indemnification case absent “exceptional...more
Not infrequently, a former director may seek to have his attorney fees advanced in two pending matters, only one of which is covered by a corporation’s advancement obligations. An example would be an SEC action coupled with a...more
Advancement provides corporate officials with immediate interim relief from the personal out-of-pocket financial burden of paying the significant ongoing expenses inevitably involved with defending investigations and legal...more
We’re back with the second episode of CorpCast, Morris James LLP’s podcast discussing Delaware corporate and commercial law and practice. In “Advancement 101,” we discuss the fundamentals of advancement actions in Delaware’s...more