Over the summer, Delaware enacted a number of amendments to the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”). The amendments were largely crafted in response to several recent decisions by the Delaware...more
On July 2, 2024, the Delaware Chancery Court in Sciannella v. AstraZeneca dismissed stockholder claims in connection with the $3 billion merger of Viela Bio and Horizon Therapeutics in 2021. The merger was approved by Viela’s...more
Founding a successful company is enormously difficult. An oft-cited statistic is that 75% of venture-backed start-ups fail, a percentage that is probably both understated and fails to consider all the companies that never...more
In Seavitt v. N-able, Inc., the Delaware Court of Chancery held that certain governance rights granted to a corporation’s significant stockholders were statutorily invalid. This included a provision purporting to allow those...more
The amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) are effective yesterday, August 1, and will apply retroactively to agreements and contracts that a Delaware corporation entered into, or that a Delaware...more
On July 17, 2024, Delaware Governor John Carney signed into law amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) from Senate Bill 313 that had sparked considerable controversy within the corporate law and governance...more
The latest amendments (the “Amendments”) to the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) went into effect today, August 1, 2024, to address, among other things, (i) stockholder agreements related to corporate governance;...more
On July 17, 2024, Delaware Governor John Carney signed into law the 2024 amendments to the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”), the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act (the “LLC Act”), the...more
Corporate lawyers in Canada tend to follow decisions of the Delaware Courts involving corporate governance and shareholder matters, as decisions of the Delaware Courts are often a bellwether as to how certain aspects of...more
Many co-owners of closely held businesses will employ life insurance as a tool for funding the transfer of ownership in the business upon the death or retirement of an owner. In these cases, planning involves the use of...more
The Delaware House of Representatives recently passed Senate Bill 313 (SB 313), overcoming the final major obstacle to essentially overturn the ruling in West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Moelis & Co.1 The Moelis...more
What’s the latest on SB 313, the proposed amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law largely designed to address the outcome of the decision in West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Moelis & Company? That case...more
Three recent decisions from the Delaware Court of Chancery (the “Court”) have upended long-standing market practice related to, among other matters, stockholder agreements, board approvals of merger agreements and the...more
Controversy notwithstanding, the proposed amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law in Senate Bill 313 have reportedly “sailed through” the Delaware Senate and are scheduled to move to the Delaware House this week....more
Last month, this PubCo post discussed the recent controversy over proposed amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law. As noted in the post, the Council of the Corporation Law Section of the Delaware State Bar...more
On March 28, 2024, the Council of the Corporation Law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association approved legislation proposing to amend the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) in response to recent Delaware Court of...more
On February 23, 2024, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a decision in West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Moelis & Co. emphasizing the primacy of the board of directors’ responsibility to manage a Delaware...more
The Delaware Court of Chancery decided two cases recently that may have a significant impact on future corporate action, in each stressing the need for corporate actors to follow statutory requirements, even when in potential...more
In a lightning-fast response to the recent ruling in West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Moelis & Co., the Delaware State Bar Association’s Council of the Corporate Law Section has proposed an amendment to the...more
Key Takeaways - The Delaware Court of Chancery held that stockholder governance rights that restrict the ability of the board of directors to manage or direct the business and affairs of a corporation are facially invalid...more
In West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Moelis & Company, the Delaware Court of Chancery invalidated a set of approval rights contained in a stockholder agreement as facially in conflict with Section 141(a) of the...more
On February 23, 2024, a decision by Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster in the Delaware Chancery Court invalidated parts of a shareholder agreement between Moelis & Company and its Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and founder,...more
On February 23, 2024, Vice Chancellor Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued his 131-page decision in West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Moelis & Co., No. 2023-0309-JTL. The case involved a...more
On February 23, 2024, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a decision concluding that some provisions of a stockholder agreement purporting to give a large stockholder various governance...more
Professor Stephen Bainbridge recently commented on a decision by Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster finding that Section 141(a) of the Delaware General Corporation Law trumps most of the provisions of a so-called "new wave"...more