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Fiduciary Duty Board of Directors Breach of Duty

Hogan Lovells

Q2 2024 Quarterly Corporate / M&A decisions updates

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Below is our Corporate / M&A decisions update covering decisions in the second quarter of 2024. Decisions from the Delaware Court of Chancery this quarter included further development of the jurisprudence around the validity...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

OLNS#12 – Advisory Boards in German Start-ups

In substantially all of the major world markets, we have dedicated technology lawyers who support young German technology companies on their growth trajectory through all stages. As one of the top tech law firms in the world,...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Dismisses Fiduciary Duty Claim Against Directors Based on Disclosures Regarding the Company’s Purposes

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Stansell v. Rosensweig, C.A. No. 2023-0180-PAF (Del. Ch. June 12, 2024) - The plaintiff was a stockholder of a company that provided online education resources. Some of the company's customers used its products to cheat on...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

OLNS#12 - Beiräte in deutschen Start-ups

Mit unseren auf Technologietransaktionen spezialisierten Teams in allen wichtigen globalen Märkten begleiten wir zahlreiche deutsche Technologieunternehmen auf ihrem Wachstumspfad. Als eine der führenden Tech-Kanzleien...more

Allen Matkins

When Dismissing A Case Violates Due Process

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When a shareholder sues derivatively, the shareholder is seeking relief not for itself, but for the corporation.  Therefore, it should be expected that the shareholder is not free to compromise or dismiss the suit absent...more

Charles E. Rounds, Jr. - Suffolk University...

When the centerpiece of a trustee’s defense in a breach-of-fiduciary-duty action is an empty file cabinet and a general lack of...

An incident of the trustee’s duty to be generally prudent, to account (or report) to beneficiaries, and to refrain from breaches of the duty of undivided loyalty, such as engaging in unauthorized self-dealing, is the...more

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Rejects ‘Caremark’ Liability for Imperfect Compliance With Legal Obligations

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Delaware corporations are not permitted to pursue profits by violating the law. Under Caremark and its progeny, directors’ fiduciary duties include the good faith obligation to oversee and monitor the corporation’s compliance...more

Allen Matkins

Just What Are The Duties Of A Controlling Shareholder And How Should Claims Of Breach Be Brought?

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In a recent post, Professor Stephen Bainbridge discusses the question of when a controlling shareholder owes fiduciary duties to minority shareholders.  Knowing when controlling shareholder owes fiduciary duties is one thing,...more

Hogan Lovells

In re Cognizant Technology: Third Circuit adopts de novo review for failure to plead demand futility

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In re Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation Derivative Litigation, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, sitting en banc, overruled its prior decision in Blasband v. Rales that applied an...more

Allen Matkins

Is Your Directors And Officers Liability Coverage Illusory?

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Many corporations pay significant amounts for directors and officers liability policies.  Commonly referred to as D&O policies, these policies usually involve three sides.  Directors and officers are likely to have the most...more

Morgan Lewis

Staying in the Fight: Getting Your Company Through the Down Round to the Next Round of Financing

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A “down round” is when a company raises capital based on a valuation that is lower (often materially so) than the company’s valuation in one or more prior financing rounds. Depending on the severity of the situation, a “down...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Holds Plaintiff Fails to Meet Rule 23.1 Pleading Standard, Dismisses Action Arising From T-Mobile Data Hack

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Harper v. Sievert, C.A. No. 2022-0819-SG (Del. Ch. May 31, 2024). A stockholder plaintiff brought derivative claims alleging that current and former directors of T-Mobile US, Inc. were liable for aggregating customers’...more

Morris James LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Reverses MFW Dismissal Due to Inadequate Disclosures Regarding Special Committee’s Advisors’ Material...

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City of Sarasota Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Inovalon Holdings Inc., No. 305, 2023 (Del. May 1, 2024). The Delaware Supreme Court’s decision in Khan v. M & F Worldwide Corp. (“MFW”) established a cleansing process for a...more

Jones Day

Directors Take Note: English Court Awards Substantial Judgment Under New "Trading Misfeasance" Law

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The £150 million judgment makes clear the full impact of the trading misfeasance offence for directors....more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Addresses Acquirer’s Request For Joint Tortfeasor Settlement Credit

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In re Columbia Pipeline Grp. Inc. Merger Litig., Consol. C.A. No. 2018-0484-JTL (Del. Ch. May 15, 2024) - In this post-trial decision, the Court addressed an acquirer’s responsibility for damages suffered by a stockholder...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Determines Certain Suits and Investigations Against Amazon Were Insufficient to Meet Credible Basis Standard to Inspect...

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Wong Leung Revocable Tr. v. Amazon.com Inc., C.A. No. 2023-1251-BWD (Del. Ch. May 1, 2024) - In order to inspect books and records under Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, a stockholder-plaintiff must...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Grants Motion to Dismiss Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims Against Officers in Controlling Stockholder Transaction Subject...

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Kormos v. Playtika Hldg. UK II Ltd., C.A. 2023-0396-SG (Del. Ch. May 3, 2024) - In this decision involving breach of fiduciary duty claims against two officers, the Court granted the individual defendants’ motions to...more

Bennett Jones LLP

Delaware Court Affirms High Threshold for Breach of Directors' Caremark Duties

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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

Allen Matkins

Court Holds Internal Affairs Doctrine Typically Covers Breach Of Fiduciary Claims Despite No Averment Of Fiduciary Duty

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California's Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act provides "The law of the state . . . under which a foreign limited liability company is formed governs all of the following: The organization of the limited liability...more

Woodruff Sawyer

Corporate Barbarians at the Gates: The Attack on Delaware

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All empires eventually decline. For decades, Delaware has held the crown as the premier state of incorporation for domestic companies (and many foreign companies seeking a foothold in the United States capital markets). But...more

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Dismisses Aiding And Abetting Fraud Claim Against Corporate Officers And Directors On Grounds That A Corporation...

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Urvan v. AMMO, Inc., Consol. C.A. No. 2023-0470 PRW (Del. Ch. Feb. 27, 2024, corrected Mar. 14, 2024) - It is an axiom of Delaware law that a corporation acts through its human agents. This principle informs the causes of...more

Hogan Lovells

Palkon v. Maffei: Court permits suit challenging conversion to Nevada corporation

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In Palkon v. Maffei, the Delaware Court of Chancery permitted stockholders to pursue claims that the board of directors of TripAdvisor breached their fiduciary duties in converting TripAdvisor from a Delaware corporation to a...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Takeaways From the Delaware Court of Chancery’s First Dismissal of MultiPlan-style SPAC Challenge

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Since the Delaware Court of Chancery’s January 2022 decision in In re MultiPlan Corp. Stockholders Litigation,1 plaintiffs in Delaware had enjoyed a long and unbroken string of motion to dismiss victories in suits alleging...more

Allen Matkins

Nevada Supreme Court Rejects The "Uncontrollable Child" Theory Of Parent-Subsidiary Relationships

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Nevada famously limits directors and officers from personal liability.  However, it would be an overstatement to say that Nevada is a "liability free" jurisdiction.  For example, the Nevada Supreme Court recently held that...more

The Volkov Law Group

Episode 322 -- Checking in on Caremark Cases

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Over the last ten years, we have seen a marked shift from the Delaware Chancery Court chipping away at corporate board member liability claims. In a number of seminal cases involving Boeing airplane crashes (In re the Boeing...more

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