In addition to indemnification, corporate directors and officers also may have the right under applicable law and corporate by-laws to have their costs of defense advanced before the ultimate right to indemnification has been determined. A question that often arises is whether a corporation may withhold advancement. A recent decision from the Ontario Superior Court

Under the Responsible Corporate Officer Doctrine, corporate officials can be held liable for misconduct in which they did not participate and of which they have been entirely unaware, based on their responsibility for the corporation itself. As shown in a July 27, 2012 opinion from the District of Columbia Court of Appeals (here

One of the most important sources of director protection is corporate  indemnification. But as significant as indemnification is for the protection of directors, the directors’ first line of defense, literally, is their right to advancement of their costs of defense. All too often, these two terms – advancement and indemnification – are used interchangeably, but

A fundamental tenet of corporate law is that a business corporation is organized and carried on for the benefit of its stockholders.  In recent times, an increasing number of for-profit organizations have formed in order to pursue social and environmental goals. There is a growing investor movement toward the financial support of organizations that have

The advisory shareholder vote required under the Dodd Frank Act went through its first cycle in 2011, and by and large most companies’ shareholders approved the companies’ executive compensation plans. Only about 45 companies (less than 2%) received negative “say on pay” votes from a majority of investors. But that does not mean that the

Yahoo’s board members may or may not be “doofuses” as departed Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz declared after they sacked her, but the one thing for sure is that the events surrounding her firing, and the more recent CEO turnover at H-P, sure have folks riled up. Whatever else you want to say about these events