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Fiduciary Duty Shareholder Litigation Corporate Officers

Allen Matkins

When Dismissing A Case Violates Due Process

Allen Matkins on

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

Allen Matkins

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

Allen Matkins on

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

Allen Matkins

Is Your Directors And Officers Liability Coverage Illusory?

Allen Matkins on

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

Bennett Jones LLP

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

Bennett Jones LLP on

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

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

Allen Matkins on

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

Bennett Jones LLP

Delaware Courts Confirm High Standard for Breach of Oversight Duty Applies Equally to Officers and Directors

Bennett Jones LLP on

In the United States, corporate directors and, as confirmed by the Delaware Court in McDonald’s Corp. Stockholder Derivative Litigation (McDonald), corporate officers owe, as a subset of their duty of loyalty, a duty to...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

2023 Delaware Corporate Law and Litigation Year in Review

Wilson Sonsini is pleased to present the 2023 Delaware Corporate Law and Litigation Year In Review. In 2023, the Delaware courts issued many decisions addressing an array of important topics, including director and officer...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Insights: The Delaware Edition - December 2023

In this issue, we discuss recent Delaware court developments regarding officer liability, who can recover “lost-premium” damages, and trends in books and records actions, among other topics....more

Latham & Watkins LLP

California Court Adopts the Caremark Standard for Oversight Claims

Latham & Watkins LLP on

The decision articulates the standard for plaintiffs asserting derivative claims based on an alleged failure of oversight by directors and officers of California companies. Nearly three decades ago in the seminal case In...more

Allen Matkins

Do Corporate Boards Necessarily Breach Their Fiduciary Duties When They Approve Illegal Conduct?

Allen Matkins on

In a recent blog post on the Business Law Prof Blog, Tulane Law professor Ann M. Lipton opined...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

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Officer Exculpation and the Silicon Valley 150

Effective August 1, 2022, Section 102(b)(7) of the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) was amended to permit a Delaware corporation to include in its charter a provision eliminating or limiting the personal liability of...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Court Of Chancery Rejects Stockholder’s Section 220 Books And Record Demand In Connection With Corporation’s Expression...

A&O Shearman on

On June 27, 2023, Vice Chancellor Lori W. Will of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a judgment in favor of a “leading media and entertainment” company with a “substantial presence in Florida” (the “Corporation”),...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Supreme Court Affirms Decision Rejecting Fiduciary Duty Claims As To Allegedly Conflicted Acquisition Because It...

A&O Shearman on

On June 6, 2023, in an opinion authored by Justice Karen L. Valihura, the Supreme Court of Delaware sitting en banc unanimously affirmed judgment in favor of defendant, the CEO/Founder and then-Chairman (the “Chairman”) of...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Court of Chancery Finds Revlon Violation For Founder Who Favored Buyer And Failed To Disclose, And Aiding & Abetting...

A&O Shearman on

On March 15, 2022, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled that the founder and former CEO of Mindbody Inc. (the “Company”) breached his fiduciary duties to stockholders in connection with the...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Court Of Chancery Dismisses Caremark Claims Against Directors For Failure To Allege Bad Faith After Permitting Related...

A&O Shearman on

On March 1, 2023, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed derivative claims brought by stockholders for breach of the fiduciary duty of oversight under Caremark against the directors of...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

In Rare Decision, Delaware Court of Chancery Imposes Liability on CEO and Acquiror Post-Trial

On March 15, 2023, Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a rare post-trial decision finding a CEO personally liable for millions of dollars in damages for breaching his fiduciary...more

Bennett Jones LLP

Delaware Court Extends a Director's Duty of Oversight to Officers—What Could This Mean for Canadian Directors and Officers?

Bennett Jones LLP on

In the United States, corporate directors owe, as a subset of their duty of loyalty, a duty to monitor and oversee the operations of the company, referred to as the "duty of oversight" in this blog. This duty is known as the...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

Delaware Court Confirms Corporate Officers’ Duty of Oversight - Lessons for UK Companies

Latham & Watkins LLP on

The US decision reminds UK companies and their officers to identify and report red flags about misconduct in the workplace. Certain shareholders of McDonald’s Corporation (the Company) sued David Fairhurst, the Company’s...more

Akerman LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Extends Oversight Obligations to Non-Director Corporate Officers

Akerman LLP on

In former Chancellor Allen’s hallmark decision in In re Caremark International, Inc. Derivative Litigation, the Delaware Court of Chancery held that directors of a corporation owe stockholders the fiduciary duty of oversight....more

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Storming The Arches: Corporate Officers Owe Duty of Oversight Per Delaware Court of Chancery

The Delaware Court of Chancery has recently held in In re McDonald’s Corporation Stockholder Derivative Litigation that shareholders can pursue a derivative claim for breach of the fiduciary duty of oversight against...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Delaware Court Extends Fiduciary Duty of Oversight to Corporate Officers

For companies incorporated in Delaware (and beyond), it may be time to reexamine a number of issues impacting senior leadership from a variety of perspectives, including corporate governance, indemnification provisions,...more

Hicks Johnson

Landmark Ruling on Oversight Liability Creates New Risks for Corporate Officers

Hicks Johnson on

According to a recent decision handed down by the Delaware courts, corporate officers must now contend with a new avenue of liability: the duty of oversight. Previously, only a company’s board could face personal liability...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

The Ramifications of The Delaware Court of Chancery’s McDonald’s Decision – Beyond Holding That Caremark Oversight Obligations...

Last year, we discussed how stockholder complaints concerning environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) issues were making their way to the courtroom and, specifically, how  the Delaware Court of Chancery and Supreme...more

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Rules That Corporate Officers Have a Duty of Oversight Within Their Corporate Area of Responsibility

Morris James LLP on

Delaware courts have firmly established that directors have oversight duties under the good-faith component of the fiduciary duty of loyalty. In the seminal Caremark decision, the Delaware Court of Chancery held that...more

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