Episode 24: Corporate Oppression Doctrine Meets Sex Discrimination: A Conversation with Professor Meredith Miller
Episode 23: LLCs as They Approach the 50-Year Milestone: A Conversation with Professor Susan Pace Hamill
Litigation developments: core M&A and corporate governance doctrines
PODCAST: Williams Mullen GovCon Perspectives - Why Was My SWaM Certification Denied, and What Can I Do?
Episode 8: Minority Oppression in the LLC: Interview With Professor Douglas Moll
Episode 10: The Marketability Discount Revisited: Interview with Greg Barber
The M&A Word of the Day® from the Book of Jargon® – Global Mergers & Acquisitions Is Squeeze Out
On January 21, 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Chancery’s decision in In re Oracle Corp. Derivative Lit., finding that a less than 50% stockholder does not owe fiduciary duties absent evidence of either...more
On February 17, 2025, a bipartisan group of legislators seeking to “promote clarity and balance in Delaware’s corporate law” introduced Senate Bill 21 (the “Bill”) to amend the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”). If...more
Proposed amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) introduce safe harbors for liability from transactions involving directors, officers and controlling stockholders and define and limit a stockholder’s right...more
In Maffei v. Palkon, No. 125, 2024, 2025 Del. LEXIS 51 (Del. Feb. 4, 2025) (Valihura, J.), the Delaware Supreme Court held that a corporation’s decision to reincorporate in another state purportedly to reduce exposure to...more
Controlling stockholders owe fiduciary duties to other stockholders that minority stockholders do not. A holder of over 50% of a corporation’s voting power is clearly a controlling stockholder. As a consequence, transactions...more
On January 7, 2025, Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a post-trial decision in favor of defendant, a private equity fund (the “Fund”), finding that the Fund’s sale of a portfolio...more
One of the first business divorce cases that I participated in as a young litigator was a lengthy arbitration over whether a minority shareholder was oppressed under BCL 1104-a. With those fond memories, evolution of the...more
The Delaware Court of Chancery, in Palkon v. Maffei, et al., C.A. No. 2023-0449-JTL (Del. Ch. Feb. 20, 2024), determined that a reduction in the liability exposure of a fiduciary due to the conversion of a Delaware...more
Nov 2023 In August 2021, the BVI Commercial Court handed down judgment on liability in favour of the Claimants against seven directors of Vanway for carrying out a fraud on the minority shareholders, in selling the assets of...more
The one who has the gold often makes all the rules, but the majority owner of a private company who has minority partners in the business does not have complete freedom, because majority owners owe duties that apply to their...more
The mere potential for a prominent, highly respected officer, director and minority holder to influence a board’s decision to approve a deal where the minority holder sits on both sides is insufficient to confer controller...more
The seven-year anniversary of the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Ritchie v. Rupee has come and gone, and the court’s holding from 2014 remains the law: Minority shareholders in Texas private companies do not have a cause...more
What is a Close Corporation? Under Ohio law, a “close corporation” is defined as a corporation with a relatively small number of shareholders, whose shares are generally not traded on national securities exchanges or...more
The majority owners of private Texas limited liability companies (LLC’s) enjoy a mixed blessing when they also manage their companies. Majority owners have the power to direct their private companies as they deem fit, but...more
Often, a closely-held company comprises a large portion of a person’s wealth. In some instances, the company initially generated much of the person’s wealth. And in others, the company is formed as a vehicle to pass wealth...more
The North Carolina Business Court recently issued an opinion considering whether a minority shareholder can ever be considered a “controlling shareholder” who owes a fiduciary duty to other shareholders. The court’s opinion...more