Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 167: Listen and Learn -- Direct and Derivative Actions (Corporations)
Board Diversity Podcast
Securities Litigation and Disclosure Issues
Podcast: CFTC Issues LIBOR Transition Relief for Swaps
In a recent case, Bricklayers Pension Fund of Western Pennsylvania (derivatively on behalf of Centene Corporation) v Brinkley (Centene), Delaware's Court of Chancery dismissed “Caremark duty claims”—named after the 1996 case...more
In our insight “Personal Liability of Directors for Climate Strategy: Landmark Case against Energy Company Board,” we analyzed the claim filed in the English High Court by non-profit organization ClientEarth against the...more
In a judgment handed down on 12 May 2023, the English High Court has refused permission for UK environmental NGO ClientEarth to continue “derivative claims” on behalf of Shell against its directors in connection with their...more
On March 1, 2023, in In re McDonald’s Corporation Stockholder Derivative Litigation, Vice Chancellor Travis Laster of Delaware’s Court of Chancery granted a motion to dismiss derivative claims against McDonald’s directors...more
This top ten list summarizes significant decisions of the Delaware Supreme Court and the Delaware Court of Chancery over the past calendar year. Our criteria for selection are that the decision either meaningfully changed...more
The law doesn’t demand that you get things right, only that you tried; the recent dismissal of a derivative lawsuit against SolarWinds Corporation illustrates this perfectly. The cyber catastrophe that was SolarWinds in 2020...more
When it comes to protecting their interests – or the interests of the corporation – shareholders have unique rights to take legal action. They can file suit either on behalf of the corporation itself, known as a derivative...more
Five years ago, I noted that the Nevada Supreme Court had adopted New York's more deferential approach for assessing special litigation qualifications in Auerbach v. Bennett, 393 N.E.2d 994 (N.Y. 1979) over that of the...more
On September 6, 2022, Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III of the Delaware Court of Chancery granted a motion to dismiss derivative claims for breach of fiduciary duty brought by stockholders of a software company (the...more
Derivative Litigation Eighth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Derivative Securities Action - Carpenters’ Pension Fund of Ill. v. Neidorff, No. 20-3216 (8th Cir. 2022) - Following Centene Corporation’s merger with Health Net,...more
The California Constitution declares that trial by jury is an "inviolate right" that "shall be secured to all". Cal. Const. Art. I, §16. Despite this expansive language, this right in the civil context is generally limited...more
On June 30, 2022, Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery denied a motion to dismiss stockholder derivative claims for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty against the CEO/Chairman of an...more
On May 25, 2022, Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III of the Delaware Court of Chancery denied a motion to dismiss a stockholder derivative claim against a director of Fat Brands Inc. (the “Corporation”) for alleged breach of...more
In a derivative action In re Boeing Company Derivative Litigation, Boeing’s stockholders obtained approval from the Delaware Court of Chancery for a landmark US$237.5 million settlement of derivative claims targeting the...more
On 15 March 2022, ClientEarth announced that it had written to Shell's board of directors informing them of its intent to bring a claim on behalf of the company for the board's failure to implement a Paris Agreement compliant...more
On January 21, 2022, Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed a derivative lawsuit brought by a stockholder of GrafTech International Ltd. (the “Company”) against the Company’s...more
Below is our Corporate / M&A decisions update covering decisions in the fourth quarter of 2021. This update is designed to highlight selected important M&A, corporate, and commercial court decisions on a quarterly basis....more
Our 2021 Top 10 list summarizes decisions from the Delaware courts likely to affect business transactions and business litigation going forward. Our criteria for selection are that the decision either meaningfully changed...more
On December 15, 2021, Vice Chancellor Lori W. Will of the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed stockholder derivative claims for breaches of fiduciary duty asserted on behalf The Kraft Heinz Company (the “Company”) against an...more
In United Food & Com. Workers Union v. Zuckerberg, No. 404, 2020 (Del. Sup. Sep. 23, 2021), the Delaware Supreme Court adopted a new, three-part test for determining when a shareholder is required to make a pre-suit demand on...more
Derivative actions play an important role in policing corporate insider conduct and compliance by directors and controlling stockholders with their fiduciary duties. A derivative action enables a stockholder, upon...more
The Delaware Court of Chancery on Sept. 7, 2021, allowed a derivative stockholder lawsuit to proceed against The Boeing Company (Boeing), alleging that Boeing's board of directors breached their fiduciary duties by failing to...more
On September 23, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a decision replacing the long-standing Aronson test for demand futility and instead adopts and affirms a new universal Rales-like test applied below by Vice Chancellor...more
In this post, UCLA Law School Professor Stephen Bainbridge quibbles my description of Delaware's two-step approach to the special litigation committee defense in derivative suits. In particular, he points out that Delaware...more
Last month, Delaware's new Chancellor Kathaleen S. McCormick issued a decision largely dismissing challenges to board action after finding that the plaintiff's emails to the board constituted pre-suit litigation demands, and...more