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Summaries and analysis of recent Delaware court decisions concerning business-related litigation.
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Showing 56 posts by Samuel E. Bashman.
Chancery Upholds Brophy Claim and Finds Post-Merger Direct Standing Based On Process Challenge
Goldstein v. Denner, C.A. No. 2020-1061-JTL (Del. Ch. June 2, 2022)
This motion to dismiss decision upholds a Brophy claim against an activist investor and director who was alleged to have concealed an eventual acquiror’s expression of interest while he leveraged that inside information to buy more stock and profit after the short-swing period’s expiration. The Court of Chancery found it was reasonable in the circumstances to infer materiality of the expression of interest, which represented a nearly 65% premium over the company’s trading price, and that the fiduciary was motivated to act upon it. The Court also found that a merger did not eliminate the plaintiff’s standing under the contemporaneous ownership requirement. The Court rejected the defendant's argument under Primedia regarding the asserted immateriality of the value of the plaintiff’s claims in the context of the merger. As the Court explained, under Parnes, a stockholder could may assert “a direct claim challenging a merger if the facts giving rise to what otherwise would constitute a derivative claim led either to the price or the process being unfair.” Here, the plaintiff’s allegations challenged the fairness of the sale process – a process that the activist allegedly delayed to serve his own interests at the expense of the Company running a better process or remaining independent.
Chancery Finds Officer Breached the Duty of Loyalty By Working With Competitors
Metro Storage Int’l LLC v. Harron, C.A. No. 2018-0937-JTL (Del. Ch. May 4, 2022)
The duty of loyalty requires that the corporation’s interests take precedence over any personal interest possessed by a director, officer, or controlling shareholder that is not shared by the stockholders generally. Relevant here, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendant had breached his fiduciary duty of loyalty by consulting for another company while he was an officer, failing to disclose that he was consulting for another company, usurping a financial opportunity, and misusing confidential information. The Court of Chancery found that the evidence supported all of these allegations. In particular, the Court found that the defendant breached his duty of loyalty by spending substantial time performing consulting work for another company when he had agreed to devote his full time to the plaintiff company. The Court reasoned that while an officer generally may work for an independent business so long as this work does not violate his fiduciary duties, the defendant had misappropriated company resources because he had agreed to spend his full time working for the company and this time was a resource that belonged to the company.
Chancery Declines to Grant Equitable Standing When Other Stockholders Had Standing to Enforce Corporate Rights
SDF Funding LLC v. Fry, C.A. No. 2017-0732-KSJM (Del. Ch. May 13, 2022)
Under Section 327 of the DGCL, a stockholder must hold stock at the time of the alleged wrong to have standing to pursue a derivative claim. Under the equitable standing doctrine, however, standing may be recognized in equity to prevent a “complete failure of justice.” Here, the plaintiffs acquired the stock after some of the alleged wrongs in their complaint took place but argued that the equitable standing doctrine allowed one of them to raise these claims. The Court of Chancery observed that the doctrine has applied when alternative avenues of remedying the harm were foreclosed. Importantly, however, the Delaware courts generally have declined to invoke it when other avenues theoretically exist, such as the existence of other potential plaintiffs with standing to pursue the claims at issue. Applying that reasoning here, the Court ruled that it would not grant equitable standing because other non-party stockholders would have standing to pursue these claims.
Chancery Denies Indemnification to Director After Examining Settlement Agreement
Huret v. Mondobrain, Inc., C.A. No. 2021-0208-SG (Del. Ch. Apr. 27, 2022)
Under Section 145(c) of the DGCL, a director that has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defending a covered proceeding is entitled to indemnification. When determining success, Delaware law asks whether the indemnitee has avoided an adverse result, and generally does not look behind that result. Here, the plaintiff sought indemnification for derivative claims resolved by a settlement agreement, which also resolved claims brought by the plaintiff in French litigation. The Court examined the settlement agreement as a whole and found the plaintiff was not successful in the derivative action against him, and thus not entitled to indemnification. In settling the outstanding claims, the plaintiff did not admit guilt or make any settlement payment. However, he agreed to resign from the board, which was relief the stockholder originally sought, and he also agreed to release his own claims for money damages, which were in excess of the money damages sought for the derivative claims against him.
Chancery Resolves Section 225 Dispute and Declines to Invalidate Written Consents
Zhou v. Deng, C.A. No. 2021-0026-JRS (Del. Ch. Apr. 6, 2022)
When deciding a summary proceeding regarding a disputed corporate office under Section 225 of the DGCL, the Court of Chancery may consider whether an election, appointment, or removal was tainted by fraud, deceit, or breach of contract. This decision involves the Court considering such defenses to the defendants’ removal and replacement as directors. Here, the Court declined to invalidate the challenged written consents based on allegations of breaches of fiduciary duty, breaches of contract, and fraud. The Court, for instance, rejected the breach of contract defense concerning stock purchases because the breach was already remedied in another action by an award of damages and the sale contract had not been rescinded.
Chancery Upholds Claims Against Controller’s Family Member
In re Straight Path Communications Inc. Consol. Stockholder Litig., C.A. No. 2017-0486-SG (Del. Ch. Feb. 17, 2022)
This summary judgment decision arose out of a transaction involving the company Straight Path. Straight Path’s controller had sold company assets to another company controlled by his family, IDT, for an allegedly inadequate price. One of the assets was an indemnification claim against IDT, which used to be Straight Path’s parent company, for indemnification rights arising following Straight Path’s spin-off. Straight Path thereafter was sold to Verizon, eliminating derivative standing for the company’s stockholders to challenge derivatively the asset sale to IDT. Straight Path’s controller allegedly leveraged his control to wrest that indemnification claim from the company’s stockholders prior to the Verizon transaction. Stockholders brought direct claims against the family members and an affiliated trust in this action. Their claims previously survived dismissal, and in this decision their claims survived summary judgment. More ›
Chancery Upholds Claim for the Appointment of a Receiver
Zaslansky v. FZ Holdings, C.A. No. 2021-0168-KSJM (Del. Ch. Feb. 8, 2022)
This order denying a motion to dismiss addresses the circumstances in which the Court of Chancery may appoint a receiver for an allegedly insolvent corporation under 8 Del. C. § 291. In determining whether to grant a petition to appoint a receiver for an insolvent corporation, the Court must determine whether the corporation is insolvent and whether the appointment of a neutral third party is necessary to protect the insolvent corporation’s creditors or shareholders. Here, the company had negative income, the petitioners alleged that the company commingled personal debt with company debt, and that the company selectively repaid some allegedly affiliated creditors without paying others, all making it reasonably conceivable that the facts may support a receiver appointment.
Chancery Stays Case So That Committee of Company May Decide Whether It Has Power to Interpret Alternate Dispute Resolution Provision of Agreement
Terrell v. Kiromic Biopharma, Inc., C. A. No. 2021-0248-MTZ (Del. Ch. Jan. 20, 2022)
When an alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) provision is an arbitration provision, presumptively the Court may consider the scope of the provision absent “clear and unmistakable” evidence to the contrary. When an ADR provision is not an arbitration provision, however, the Court applies contract interpretation principles to determine who – as between the Court or the person or body specified in the provision – may construe its scope. More ›
Chancery Holds that Corporation Cannot Rely on Its Stock Ledger to Deny A Stockholder Inspection Rights When it is Aware of and Concedes the Stockholder’s Status
Knott Partners L.P. v. Telepathy Labs, Inc., C.A. No. 2021-0583-SG (Del. Ch. Nov. 23, 2021)
To seek corporate records under section 220 of the DGCL, the plaintiff must demonstrate that it is a stockholder. Generally, a corporation can rely on its stock ledger to determine who is a stockholder of record. This case confirmed, however, that a corporation may not rely on its stock ledger to deprive a stockholder of inspection rights when the corporation was aware of the stockholder’s status but failed to update its stock ledger to reflect that. More ›
Chancery Holds Plaintiffs Adequately Pled Wrongful Refusal Where Board Did Not Correct Unauthorized Charter Amendments
Drachman v. Cukier, C.A. No. 2019-0728-LWW (Del. Ch. Oct. 29, 2021)
To survive a motion to dismiss in the demand refusal context, the plaintiff must allege facts that create a reasonable doubt that the board’s decision to deny the demand was consistent with its duty of care to act on an informed basis or that the board acted in good faith, consistent with its duty of loyalty. Where the board’s response and other circumstances give rise to a reasonable inference that directors did not care about a clear, continuing violation of law, the standard for wrongful refusal may be met. More ›
Chancery Dismisses Implied Covenant Claim For Former Stockholders’ Alleged Improper Demands That Company Take Actions To Achieve Earn-out Milestones
Pacira Biosciences, Inc. v. Fortis Advisors LLC, C.A. No. 2020-0694-PAF (Del. Ch. Oct. 25, 2021)
There generally cannot be a claim under the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing for conduct that is addressed by the plain language of an agreement. Even when a contract is silent, the Court will not use the covenant to rewrite the contract to imply contractual provisions that a party failed to obtain at the bargaining table. More ›
Chancery Applies Recent Zuckerberg Decision and Holds That Demand Was Not Excused
Genworth Fin., Inc. Consol. Deriv. Litig., C.A. No. 11901-VCS (Del. Ch. Sept. 29, 2021)
In a demand futility analysis, Delaware courts have traditionally applied the Rales and Aronson decisions. However, the Delaware Supreme Court recently adopted the Zuckerberg test. Under this new three-part test, Delaware courts ask: (1) whether the director received a material personal benefit from the alleged misconduct of the litigation demand; (2) whether the director would face a substantial likelihood of liability on any of the claims that are the subject of the litigation demand; and (3) whether the director lacks independence from someone who received a material benefit from the alleged misconduct that is the subject of the litigation demand or who would face a substantial likelihood of liability on any of the claims that are subject to the litigation demand. More ›
Chancery Rejects MFW Defense Based on Failure to Disclose That a Conflicted Controller Participated in Arbitration Proceedings Potentially Impacting the Company’s Value
Ligos v. Isramco, Inc., C.A. No. 2020-0435-SG (Del. Ch. Aug. 31, 2021)
Under MFW, a conflicted controller transaction may get the benefit of business judgment review when conditioned on two procedural protections involving: (i) approval by an independent special committee; and (ii) approval by a fully informed, uncoerced majority of the minority stockholders. At issue in Ligos was whether the shareholders were fully informed regarding the value of an arbitration concerning certain royalties when they approved a merger. More ›
Chancery Stays Advancement Action in Favor of Pending Related Federal Action
The Harmon 1999 Descendants’ Trust v. CGH Investment Management, LLC, C.A. No. 2021-0407-KSJM (Sept. 21, 2021)
Generally, absent unusual circumstances, claims for advancement will not be stayed or dismissed in favor of prior pending litigation. At issue, in this case, was whether the plaintiff was a limited partner or agent of the partnership, which would render the plaintiff a covered person under the agreement and entitle the plaintiff to advancement. However, whether the plaintiff was a limited partner was squarely before a Virginia federal court. The Court of Chancery found that the issue of whether the plaintiff was a limited partner was “a material, factually rife, and disputed issue.” The Virginia action was also in its “penultimate phase,” with trial set less than three months away, and likely was going to resolve the issue before the Court of Chancery could rule. Therefore, the court stayed the Delaware advancement action in favor of the pending Virginia action, finding it would avoid wasting judicial resources, risking inconsistent results, and disrespecting principles of comity.
Chancery Denies Motion to Dismiss in Part Because Certain Discussions Between CEO and Acquirer Were not Disclosed in Proxy When Other Similar Communications Were
Teamsters Local 237 Additional Security Benefit Fund v. Caruso, C.A. No. 2020-0620-PAF (Del. Ch. Aug. 31, 2021)
Under Revlon, a director must focus on obtaining a transaction that provides the maximum value for stockholders in a sale of control. In addition, when directors solicit stockholder approval, they must disclose fairly and fully all material information. More ›