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Shareholders Books & Records

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 Finds Egregious Conduct in Books and Records Action Justifying Fee-Shifting Against Corporation

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PVH Polymath Venture Holdings Ltd. v. TAG Fintech Inc., C.A. No. 2023-0502-BWD (Del. Ch. Jan. 26, 2024) - Under the “bad faith” exception to the American Rule, Delaware courts will consider shifting fees when aggressive...more

Hogan Lovells

2024 Securities, Shareholder, and M&A Litigation Outlook

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2023 was a busy year, with both the Delaware courts and others, including the U.S. Supreme Court, weighing in on shareholder and M&A litigation issues. The Delaware Court of Chancery issued several notable decisions on issues...more

Mayer Brown

A Matter Of Propriety: Delaware Courts Reject Books-and-Records Demand Driven by Ulterior Motive

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Section 220 demands are a commonly used tool for stockholders to gain access to a company’s books and records. Although this provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law vests stockholders with a right of access thereto,...more

Hogan Lovells

Pietrasik v. Kraus Hamdani Aerospace: Despite Plaintiff’s “Rancor,” Delaware Court Grants 220 Demand

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After a de novo review of the record following a Magistrate in Chancery’s final report, Vice Chancellor Fioravanti of the Delaware Court of Chancery declined to accept the Magistrate’s recommendation to deny a...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Largely Denies Books-and-Records Inspection Exploring Dividend Potential

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Greenlight Capital Offshore Partners, LTD., v. Brighthouse Financial Inc., C.A. No. 2022-1067-LWW (Del. Ch. Nov. 20, 2023) - Valuation is a well-established proper purpose to inspect corporate books and records. While each...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Winter Case Notes: Murder, Forgery, Accidental Death, Oppression, Oh My!

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Welcome to this year’s Winter Case Notes where, amidst the arctic blast currently sweeping most of the nation, I offer shortish takes on several court decisions in recent business divorce cases. This year’s edition...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Limits Section 220 Books-and-Records Production to Formal Board Materials

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In re Zendesk, Inc. Section 220 Litigation, C.A. No. 2023-0454-BWD (Del. Ch. Aug. 25, 2023) - The background of this books-and-records decision involved a failed acquisition, a strategic review, a proxy contest, and a...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

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Books and Records Demands 2023 Recap: Courts Continue To Develop the Law Regarding the Scope of Inspection

As discussed in prior articles, stockholder plaintiffs have increasingly sought to obtain companies’ books and records under 8 Del. C. § 220 (Section 220) and the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act’s analogous provision,...more

Hogan Lovells

Seidman v. Blue Foundry: eregious defense against books and record request prompts fee shifting

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In Lawrence B. Seidman v. Blue Foundry Bancorp, the Delaware Court of Chancery awarded US$223,651.60 in attorneys’ fees and expenses to a plaintiff stockholder because of the defendant’s “glaringly egregious litigation...more

Dechert LLP

Delaware Books and Records Demands in 2023: Protections and Pitfalls for Companies

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The past year saw significant developments in the Delaware courts for books and records inspection demands pursuant to Section 220. In a first-of-its-kind decision, the Court rejected an inspection demand as lacking a...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Proceed with Caution: Strategy Considerations Before Making a Books and Records Demand

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

The books and records demand often is the opening act in business divorce litigation. The relatively low burden that an owner must meet in order to obtain access to a company’s books and records, and the availability of an...more

Morris James LLP

Supreme Court Affirms Court of Chancery’s Decision Directing “Long Dark” Company to Produce Books and Records to a Stockholder...

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Hauppauge Digital, Inc. v. Rivest, C.A. No. 2019-0848 (Del. July 10, 2023). Under Delaware law, once a stockholder has established a proper purpose to inspect a corporation's books and records, the Court of Chancery has...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Denies Books and Records Request Related to Disney’s Opposition to Florida Legislation Prohibiting LGBTQ+ Topics in...

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Simeone v. The Walt Disney Company, C.A. No. 2022-1120-LWW (Del. Ch. June 27, 2023) - The Walt Disney Company opposed Florida legislation that limits instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida...more

DarrowEverett LLP

Diversity Driven Derivative Suits: Culture Wars Come to the Boardroom

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Traditionally deployed to protect a corporation from its board’s imprudent investment or financial decision-making, in recent years shareholders have taken to bringing derivative actions on a corporation’s behalf for its...more

A&O Shearman

Delaware Court Of Chancery Rejects Stockholder Demand For Corporation To Supplement Its Section 220 Production With Searches And...

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On August 25, 2023, Magistrate Bonnie W. David of the Delaware Chancery Court issued a post-trial report denying stockholder requests for supplemental productions of emails from Zendesk, Inc. (the “Company”) pursuant to a...more

Morris James LLP

Plaintiff Overcomes Rule 23.1 In Walmart Opioids Litigation Based In Part On Over-Redacted Documents In Books And Records...

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Ontario Provincial Council of Carpenters’ Pension Trust Fund v. Walton, C.A. No. 2021-0827-JTL (Del. Ch. Apr. 26, 2023) - To assert a derivative claim, a stockholder plaintiff must plead demand futility. The plaintiffs...more

Mintz - Securities Litigation Viewpoints

Lessons from Disney: The Exercise of the Corporate Voice is Protected Business Decision

In the ever-changing and divisive political climate facing our nation today, boards of directors and the companies they oversee face myriad pressures from numerous stakeholders to weigh in on specific political, cultural, and...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Summer Shorts: Equitable Contribution, Stock Redemption, and Other Recent Decisions of Interest

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Welcome to the 13th annual edition of Summer Shorts. This year’s edition features brief commentary on five recent decisions by New York courts in a variety of business divorce cases involving equitable contribution among...more

Dechert LLP

Securities and Derivative Litigation: Quarterly Update - July 2023

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Examine a major Ninth Circuit decision affirming dismissal of a Section 14(a) derivative action based on a forum-selection clause; Highlight the Third Circuit’s adoption of the Omnicare standard for securities fraud claims;...more

Walkers

Access to Company Information and Documents under the BVI Business Companies Act

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In this article, we discuss the information and documents available to the public, to directors and to shareholders in relation to a company (a “BVI Company”) incorporated under the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 (the “BVI...more

A&O Shearman

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

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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

Dechert LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Bars Stockholder from Inspecting Books and Records Related to Board’s ESG-Related Decision

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Proof that an inspection demand is improperly “lawyer-driven” will overcome a stockholder’s pretextual claim for investigating wrongdoing. A stockholder does not have a proper purpose for investigating an “ordinary...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Delaware Court of Chancery Issues Decision on Disney Board’s Obligations in the DeSantis Dispute

On June 27, 2023, Vice Chancellor Lori Will of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a much-anticipated decision addressing the obligations of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company (Disney) in overseeing Disney’s...more

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