Sky Blog
U.S. corporate law adopts a regulation-by-litigation model where the efficient balance between incentives and filters is essential for litigation to perform its function. In this model, over-litigation is not only a detrimental distortion but also a significant indication that the …
A recent decision by the Delaware Supreme Court, In re Investors Bancorp, Inc. Stockholder Litigation (“Investors Bancorp”), increased the risk of litigation against directors, bucking a decades-long trend. The decision reversed a Chancery Court …
Earlier this month, the Delaware Court of Chancery denied defendant directors’ motion to dismiss a duty-of-oversight claim brought by plaintiff shareholders in In re Clovis Oncology, Inc. Derivative Litigation.[1] This decision, together with a similar June 2019 ruling by …
The most significant securities decision to be handed down in the first half of 2019 came from the Supreme Court in Lorenzo v. SEC, which clarified the scope of “scheme liability” under Rule 10b-5(a) and (c). Another significant ruling …
The ever-evolving challenges facing corporate boards prompt periodic updates to a snapshot of what is expected from the board of directors of a major public company—not just the legal rules, or the principles published by institutional investors and various corporate …
The ever-evolving challenges facing corporate boards prompt periodic updates to a snapshot of what is expected from the board of directors of a major public company—not just the legal rules, or the principles published by institutional investors and various corporate …
Law is a reflection of society, and corporate law is no exception. As we wrestle with broader questions around social justice, (very real) environmental risks, and the proper balancing of our long term societal goals, the proverbial corporate pendulum continues …
In a recent series of landmark decisions, the Delaware Supreme Court has constructed an orderly doctrinal framework designed to reduce wasteful post-closing merger litigation. These cases recognize that the market’s judgment is usually sound and that the costs of intensive …
As a whole, 2018 proved to be another strong year for M&A. Total deal volume reached almost $4.2 trillion globally, higher than the $3.7 trillion volume of 2017, but still less than the record of over $5 trillion set in …
Board Was Required to Disclose the Chairman’s Reasons for Abstaining From a Board Vote on the Sale of the Company
On February 20, 2018, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed dismissal of a shareholder action alleging that the board of directors …
Beginning at least as far back as Professor William Carey’s famously withering 1974 Yale Law Journal article about Delaware’s “enabling” of bad corporate actors, critics of the state’s corporate jurisprudence have alluded to a “race to the bottom” in which …
Last quarter, the Delaware courts issued the first post-Dell appraisal decisions—Aruba and AOL (issued by the Court of Chancery) and SWS Group (issued by the Delaware Supreme Court, affirming the Court …
VMware’s shareholders enjoyed gains of nearly 60 percent in 2017 as the company positioned itself as an appealing play on cloud computing with substantial growth potential and partnerships with industry leaders like Amazon Web Services. Indeed, in its most recent …
Two recent decisions confirm that, in the wake of the Delaware Supreme Court’s landmark decisions in Dell and DFC, Delaware courts are taking an increasingly skeptical view of claims in appraisal actions that the “fair value” of a company’s …
Since the Delaware Supreme Court issued its landmark Dell appraisal decision in December 2017, the Delaware courts have issued three appraisal decisions—Verition Partners v. Aruba Networks (Feb. 15, 2018), In re Appraisal of AOL Inc. (Feb. 23, 2018), and …
In a December 19, 2017, decision, In re Investors Bancorp, Inc. Stockholder Litigation, No. 169, 2017 (Del. Dec. 19, 2017), the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware considered the limits of a stockholder ratification defense when directors make …
A recent spate of appraisal decisions signals that the Delaware courts will be skeptical of claims that the “fair value” of a company’s stock, as determined in a judicial proceeding brought by a dissenter from the merger, will be higher …
In recent years, shareholder plaintiffs have brought a series of claims before the Delaware Court of Chancery alleging that directors of Delaware companies have abused their discretion in granting themselves excessive equity compensation for their board service. These cases raised …
