There were a record number of securities class action lawsuits filed against tech companies in 2019, according to a new report from Cornerstone Research. The report, entitled “Tech Company Securities Class Action Filings and Settlements: 2015-Q1 2020 Review and Analysis” (here) also shows that the number of securities suit filings against tech companies increased each year compared to the prior year during the four-year period from 2016-2019. Cornerstone Research’s July 15, 2020 press release about the new report can be found here.
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California Court to Address Enforceability of Delaware Corporation’s Federal Forum Provision
After the Delaware Supreme Court’s March 2020 decision in Salzberg v. Sciabacucchi upholding the facial validity of corporate charter provisions designating federal court as the forum for Securities Act liability claims, several questions remained. Among the questions is whether others’ states courts will recognize and enforce federal forum provisions in Delaware corporations’ charters. This issue has been teed up for decision in a Section 11 lawsuit pending in San Mateo County court in California, in a case involving Dropbox. Dropbox has filed a motion urging the California state court to dismiss the action, in reliance on the federal forum provision in its corporate charter.
As discussed Alison Frankel’s July 13 post on her On the Case blog (here), a group of six ex-judges from Delaware has now entered an amicus brief on the issue in the case, urging the California court to recognize Delaware legal authority and enforce the federal forum provision in Dropbox’s charter. The Dropbox case, according to Frankel, is “shaping up as an early test of the application of the [Sciabacucchi decision] that forum selection clauses requiring shareholders to litigate Securities Act claims in federal court are facially valid because they concern the corporation’s internal affairs.”
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Is There an Alternative to the Status Quo on Merger Objection Lawsuits?
These days just about every public company merger transaction draws at least one merger objection lawsuit. These lawsuits formerly were filed in Delaware state court alleging violations of Delaware law, but since the 2016 Delaware Chancery Court decision in the Trulia case, in which the court expressed its distaste for this type of litigation, the lawsuits have been filed in federal court based on alleged violations of Section 14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These cases, through frequently filed, are rarely litigated. They typically are resolved by the defendants’ voluntary insertion of supplemental proxy disclosures and agreement to pay the plaintiff a “mootness” fee.
However, in a recent case a corporate defendant refused to update the proxy and succeeded in getting the case dismissed. As discussed in a recent law firm memo about the dismissal ruling, the “usual playbook” for these kinds of cases – making supplemental disclosures and paying a mootness fee – may not be the best approach, and the ruling itself may provide ammunition for companies that want to try an “alternative to the status quo.”
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Guest Post: When a Wealthy Individual, Not D&O Insurance, Indemnifies Directors
Many readers undoubtedly have heard that, in lieu of D&O insurance, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has personally agreed to protect the company’s board with an indemnification undertaking. In the following guest post, Priya Cherian Huskins discusses another situation in which a company official has agreed to indemnify the company’s directors in lieu of insurance, and discusses the issues and implications of this type of arrangement. Priya is a Senior Vice President and Partner at Woodruff Sawyer. A version of this article previously appeared in the D&O Notebook. I would like to thank Priya for allowing me to publish her article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Priya’s article.
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Guest Post: The Potential for COVID-19-Related Securities Class Actions in Australia
As regular readers know, over the last few months, I have been closely following the rise of coronavirus outbreak-related securities class action lawsuits. To date, though the pandemic is a global health and economic phenomenon, the pandemic-related securities litigation activity has been limited to the United States. In the following guest post, Jason Symons, Persia Navidi, Claudia George, and Luke Roper of the HWL Ebsworth Lawyers take a look at the possibilities for COVID-19-related securities class action lawsuits in Australia. I would like to thank the authors for allowing me to publish their article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is the authors’ article.
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Private Prison Firm Hit with COVID-19 Outbreak-Related Securities Suit
In the latest coronavirus outbreak-related securities class action lawsuit to be filed, a plaintiff shareholder has filed a securities class action lawsuit against The GEO Group, a publicly traded private corrections facilities operator, alleging that the company misled investors about the effectiveness of its COVID-19 response. The complaint alleges that the company’s “inadequate” procedures subjected residents of the Company’s halfway houses to significant health risks. The company’s share price declined following news reports of a COVID-19 outbreak at one of the company’s facilities. A copy of the plaintiff’s complaint can be found here.
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No Coverage for Legal Expenses Incurred in Declaratory Judgment Action
In an interesting decision that touches on a number of basic D&O insurance coverage issues, a federal district court judge applying Oklahoma law has ruled that a company’s management liability insurance policy does not provide coverage for legal expenses a former company executive incurred in a declaratory judgment action that had been filed by another company executive to determine the parties’ rights under a profit sharing agreement. The court concluded that there was no coverage because the individual seeking coverage had not been named as a defendant in the lawsuit by reason of his status as an insured person. Even more interestingly, the court concluded further that, even though the individual had been named as a defendant in the declaratory judgment lawsuit, he had not incurred “Defense Expenses” in the lawsuit, and therefore suffered no “Loss.” Western District of Oklahoma Judge David Russell’s June 30, 2020 redacted opinion in the insurance coverage action can be found here.
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Oracle Directors Hit with Derivative Suit on Board Diversity Issues
After the recent civil disturbances and social unrest, there has been a renewed focus on equality and diversity issues. Among many other things, investors and activists are raising concerns about the lack of racial diversity on corporate boards. For example, just last week, a California legislator introduced a bill that would require corporations to include on their boards persons from “underrepresented communities.” Now, in addition to these legislative efforts, an activist investor seeking to advance board diversity objectives has launched a shareholder derivative lawsuit against the directors of Oracle Corporation, accusing the board of violating their legal duties by failing to diversify the company’s board and otherwise failing to address diversity and equality issues. A copy of the investor’s complaint can be found here.
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Concerns About “Going Concern”
As the pandemic has unfolded, a recession has followed in its wake, as a result of which many companies are struggling. Some will not survive – a number of high profile companies, such as Hertz and Neiman Marcus, have already filed for bankruptcy. Many others have issued financial filings containing a “going concern” disclosure or received an audit opinion with a going concern modification. The government shutdowns and other disruptions that have followed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak have placed an enormous burden on many businesses. The going concern disclosures filed in the year’s first half reveal how many companies are struggling to stay afloat and what might be in store in the months ahead.
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Of Time and Summer, Again
In recognition of the Independence Day holiday in the U.S., and in what is now an annual tradition, I reprise my 2012 essay about Time and Summer, which can be found here. In the midst of the very strange time in which we are all now living, life’s timeless lessons somehow seem more important