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Summaries and analysis of recent Delaware court decisions concerning business-related litigation.
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- February 19, 2021
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Showing 396 posts in Chancery.
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 Sustains Claims for Controlling Stockholders’ Breach of Fiduciary Duties, But Dismisses Claim to Void Transaction under DGCL Section 205
Amgine Techs. (US), Inc. v. Miller, C.A. No. 2020-0537-JRS (Del. Ch. Nov. 29, 2021)
This case involves the Court of Chancery’s consideration of various Rule 12 arguments for dismissal advanced by defendants – alleged controlling stockholders who assigned certain of the corporation’s intellectual property to another entity they owned, and who allegedly caused the corporation to enter into a stockholders’ agreement that gave them preferential terms. More ›
Chancery Dismisses Derivative Action Based On Alleged Liability Under DGCL § 174 For Stock Repurchases and Dividends
In re The Chemours Co. Deriv. Litig., C.A. 2020-0786-SG (Del. Ch. Nov. 1, 2021)
Broadly speaking, Sections 160 and 173 of the DGCL prohibit a corporation from repurchasing stock or issuing dividends if doing so would exceed the corporation’s surplus. Both Sections 160 and 173 are enforceable under Section 174, which provides that directors “under whose administration” a “willful or negligent” violation of Section 160 or 173 occurs are “jointly and severally liable” to the corporation. Here, the Court of Chancery rejected a challenge to dividend and stock repurchases premised upon directors’ alleged incorrect assessment of potential environmental liabilities. More ›
Chancery Awards $9.5 Million Mootness Fee for Reduction of Voting Control and Other Benefits
Hollywood Firefighters Pension Fund v. Malone, C.A. 220-0880-SG (Nov. 8, 2021)
A plaintiff may be entitled to a mootness fee if it shows that its action had merit and produced a corporate benefit. This case outlines the Court of Chancery’s analysis in valuing non-monetary benefits and, in turn, the appropriate mootness fee. More ›
Chancery Rules that Multiple Egregious Discovery Abuses Lead to the Ultimate Sanction
DG BF, LLC v. Ray, C.A. No. 2020-0459-MTZ (Del. Ch. Nov. 19, 2021)
Delaware courts may impose sanctions on parties that refuse to comply with court orders or neglect their own discovery obligations. Possible sanctions may include, among other things, monetary penalties, an instruction of adverse inference, or the ultimate sanction of default judgment against the offending party. These sanctions are imposed to remedy the wrongs at-issue and to deter abusive discovery conduct. More ›
Chancery Finds Former Directors Bringing Wrongful Termination Claims Were Not Entitled to all Privileged Communications During Their Board Tenures, and Shifts Some Fees for Inadequate Privilege Logs
SerVaas v. Ford Smart Mobility LLC, C.A. No. 2020-0909-LWW (Del. Ch. Nov. 9, 2021)
With limited exceptions, directors normally have “unfettered” access to corporate information. This decision indicates, however, that the same may not hold true for former directors who do not challenge their removal as directors and who seek documents for reasons unrelated to their prior board service. Here, the Court of Chancery denied a motion to compel by two former directors who challenged the termination of their employment, and who sought in discovery all of the documents the corporation withheld as a privilege from their time as directors. More ›
Chancery Finds General Partner Breached Partnership Agreement in Exercising Call Right, and Awards Limited Partners Nearly $700 Million in Damages
Bandera Master Fund LP v. Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP, C.A. No. 2018-0372-JTL (Del. Ch. Nov. 12, 2021)
If a partnership agreement requires an opinion of counsel as a condition precedent, such opinion must be rendered in subjective good faith under Delaware law, As Boardwalk Pipeline Partners illustrates, a court applying Delaware law may reject such an opinion as rendered in bad faith if the counsel and the requesting party involved coordinate to develop counterfactual assumptions designed to generate a desired result for the requesting party. More ›
Chancery Dismisses Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims Involving Bio-Tech Company Developing a COVID-19 Vaccine
In re Vaxart, Inc. Stockholder Litigation, Consol. C.A. No. 2020-0767-PAF (Del. Ch. Nov. 30, 2021)
Plaintiffs challenged amendments to warrant agreements between Vaxart and its former controlling stockholder, Armistice, alleging that the board intentionally withheld information significantly affecting the company’s share price, which permitted Armistice to engage in insider trading in violation of the board’s and Armistice’s fiduciary duties. Defendants moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim and for failure to make demand on the board. The Court granted the motion in part and dismissed derivative claims against Armistice and the board, finding that plaintiffs had failed to establish that Armistice was a controller and (relatedly) that demand on the Vaxart board would be futile. More ›
Chancery Denies Books and Records Inspection Brought to Advance the Stockholder’s Interests as a Creditor
Georgia Notes 18, LLC v. Net Element, Inc., C.A. No. 2021-0246-JRS (Del. Ch. Nov. 18, 2021)
Plaintiff, a stockholder and creditor of the defendant company, demanded to inspect the company’s books and records pursuant to 8 Del. C. § 220. The company objected, arguing that the plaintiff had failed to state a proper purpose for inspection and had a primary improper purpose. The Court found in the company’s favor, determining that plaintiff sought documents for the primary improper purpose of seeking pre-litigation discovery in connection to its interests as a creditor. More ›
Chancery Dismisses Derivative Suit Involving Wayfair and Challenging Debt Issuance to Private Equity Shareholders for Failure to Make Demand
Equity-League Pension Trust Fund v. Great Hill Partners, L.P., C.A. No. 2020-0992-SG (Del. Ch. Nov. 23, 2021)
A derivative suit brought on behalf of online home goods retailer, Wayfair, challenged the issuance of $535 million in convertible debt early in the COVID-19 pandemic to certain of Wayfair’s private equity investors and their affiliates. The transaction was recommended by a transaction committee and an audit committee, and was ultimately approved by the Wayfair board. The defendants moved to dismiss under Rule 23.1 arguing that the plaintiff was required but failed to make a pre-suit demand on the Wayfair board. Plaintiff argued that demand was futile because, in addition to the four directors who were on the buy-side of the transaction and thus interested, three directors sitting on the audit committee faced a substantial likelihood of liability. Plaintiff needed to sufficiently allege that at least one of the audit committee members was conflicted to arrive at a majority of the board for demand futility purposes. Finding that plaintiff had failed to adequately plead demand futility, the Court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss. More ›
Chancery Dismisses Time-Barred Complaint Against Zillow
Chertok v. Zillow, Inc., C.A. No. 2019-0849-LWW (Del. Ch. Oct. 18, 2021)
Plaintiffs, a former co-founder and director of NMD Interactive (“Chertok”) and an LLC that he managed, brought a breach of contract action against Zillow seeking merger consideration and dividends in connection with Zillow’s 2013 acquisition of NMD. Over the course of six years, Zillow and plaintiffs engaged in negotiations relating to payment of consideration and dividends that Zillow continued to withhold based on plaintiffs’ alleged failure to comply with conditions in the merger agreement. Relevant to the analysis in this case, starting in 2011, NMD brought litigation unrelated to the merger against Chertok in New York federal court, which concluded in 2017. More ›
Chancery Rules That The Standard Of Proof For Contempt Motions Is The Preponderance Of The Evidence, Not Clear And Convincing Evidence
inTEAM Associates, LLC v. Heartland Payment Systems, LLC, C.A. No. 11523-VCF (Del. Ch. Oct. 29, 2021)
Court of Chancery Rule 70(b) empowers the Court to hold a party in contempt for, among other things, failing to obey an injunctive order. The standard of proof required to obtain a contempt order has not been uniformly applied. This recent decision applies the preponderance of the evidence standard, in contrast to certain decisions over the past decade applying the clear and convincing evidence standard. 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 Applies Plain Language of a Merger Covenant To Dismiss Acquirer’s Untimely Indemnification Claim and Deny Sellers’ Request for Detailed Annual Reports
Supernus Pharms., Inc. v. Reich Consulting Grp., Inc., C.A. No. 2020-0217-MTZ (Del. Ch. Oct. 29, 2021)
Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. acquired biotech startup Biscayne Neurotherapeutics, Inc. pursuant to a 2018 merger agreement. In 2019, Supernus submitted indemnification claim notices to Reich Consulting Group, Inc., the security holder representative for Biscayne. Subsequently, Supernus filed an indemnification action against Reich in the Court of Chancery. Following trial, plaintiff Supernus’s only remaining indemnification claim was based on a provision in the merger agreement that required Biscayne to operate in the ordinary course of business during a specific period of time (“Ordinary Course Covenant”). More ›
Presented with Documents Outside the Pleadings, Chancery Converts Motion To Dismiss to Motion for Summary Judgment and Allows Discovery
Totta v. CCSB Fin. Corp., C.A. No. 2021-0173-KSJM (Del. Ch. Oct. 20, 2021)
While the Court may take judicial notice of the contents of materials like newspaper articles, public filings and websites for certain purposes, it generally may not do so to establish the truth of their contents. Where, as here, a party relies on documents outside the pleadings, the Court may convert a motion to dismiss into a motion for summary judgment, and therefore deny the motion. More ›
