As readers of this blog will recall, Delaware’s courts have held that under Delaware law bylaws designating Delaware’s courts as the exclusive forum for corporate and shareholder disputes are facially valid. Last summer, Delaware’s legislature adopted a statutory provision adding the permissibility of forum selection bylaws to the Delaware Corporations Code. In response to these … Continue Reading
Because the vast majority of U.S. publicly traded companies are incorporated in Delaware, legal developments in Delaware have a particularly important impact on legal standards governing corporate conduct in the U.S. Delaware law is particularly influential with respect to the responsibilities and potential liability exposures of corporate directors. In a series of recent opinions written … Continue Reading
Under time-honored standards, and as developed over time by Delaware’s court, the business judgment rule is, as is often stated, a “presumption that in making a business decision, the directors of a company have acted on an informed basis, in good faith, and in the honest belief that the action taken was in the best … Continue Reading
As I noted in a recent post, when the Wall Street Journal has a front-page article asking the question whether Delaware’s claim as the preferred home jurisdiction for many U.S. corporations continues to be warranted, it might be time to wonder whether Delaware’s preeminence might actually be under serious challenge. And if a recent article … Continue Reading
One feature of the U.S. corporate law environment that always strikes outside observers and new initiates as odd is the predominance on the legal landscape of the law of Delaware. The tiny Eastern seaboard state is the second smallest U.S. state by size; only five states are smaller by population, yet its corporate laws outweigh … Continue Reading
Most senior corporate executive have a general understanding of the importance to them of their corporate indemnification rights. As discussed here, a related but sometimes even more important corporate benefit is the right to advancement – that is, the right to have their defense fees paid on a contemporaneous basis while legal proceedings against them … Continue Reading
One of the more significant recent developments in the corporate and securities litigation arena has been the emergence of the debate over fee-shifting bylaws following the Delaware Supreme Court’s May 2014 decision in ATP Tour, Inc. v. Deutscher Tennis Bund. Draft proposed legislation is now being considered by the Delaware legislature that would address fee-shifting … Continue Reading
