Posts in Fiduciary Duty

Court of Chancery Resolves Conflict With SEC Rule

Esopus Creek Value LP v. Hauf, C.A. No. 2487-N (Del. Ch. November 29, 2006).

Delaware law requires an annual stockholder meeting. The SEC rules prohibit calling a stockholder meeting when the company is delinquent in its SEC filings. In this case and in its decision in Newcastle Partners LP v. Vesta Insurance Group, Inc., 887 A.2d 975 (Del. Ch. 2005), aff'd., 906 A.2d 807 (Del. Ch. 2005) the Delaware Court of Chancery has resolved this apparent conflict. Here, the Court held that a stockholder meeting should go forward with adequate disclosures to the stockholders entitled to vote on the proposed sale of substantially all of the company's assets. The Court ordered the company to apply to the SEC for an exemption from the rules prohibiting the calling of a meeting. More ›

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Court of Chancery Upholds Conspiracy Theory

Allied Capital Corporation v. GC-Sun Holdings, LP, C.A. No. 1954-N (Del. Ch. November 22, 2006).

This is the first decision that applies the law of civil conspiracy in the context of a parent and its subsidiaries. While there is authority that entities under common control cannot be held to have conspired together, that is not now the law of Delaware. This holding is particularly important in the way it may be applied to deal with coordinated conduct by related entities. The implications include that civil conspiracy may take the place of other legal theories, such as veil piercing, that previously were used to hold parent entities responsible for the wrongful conduct of their subsidiaries. More ›

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Court of Chancery Explains When Directors Are Interested In The Deal

In Re Primedia Inc. Derivative Litigation, C.A. No. 1808-N (Del. Ch. November 15, 2006).

This case dealt with when directors would be considered interested in a deal so as to preclude the application of the business judgment rule and permit the suit to proceed.  Many of the directors were affiliated with the controlling stockholder who had purchased the corporation's preferred stock at a deep discount just before the board voted to redeem that stock at its face value. That decision was justified, it was argued, because the coupon rate on the stock was higher than market rate. The Court held that might well be so, but at the pleading stage it was too soon to accept that as a justification for the purchase that gave the controlling stockholder a big gain. The decision is particularly interesting for its discussion of when directors are considered sufficiently connected to a controlling stockholder so as to preclude application of the business judgment rule. More ›

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Federal Court Permits Motion To Transfer Using Multi-Factor Balancing Test

Weisler v. Barrows, C.A. No. 06-362 GMS, 2006 WL 3201882 (D. Del. Nov. 6, 2006).

Plaintiff, a shareholder of Sycamore Networks, Inc. (“Sycamore”), a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Massachusetts, brought this derivative action against several of its directors and officers, including its chairman, CEO and CFO. The complaint alleged six counts: (1) a count against each director for section 14(a) violations of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”); (2) one count of disgorgement against four directors under section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Oxley Act”); (3) one count of breach of fiduciary duty against all directors; (4) one count of unjust enrichment against five directors; (5) one count of gross mismanagement against all defendants; and (6) one count of waste of corporate assets against all defendants.

The defendants moved to transfer the matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) and the Court granted the motion because it would convenience the parties and witnesses and serve the interests of justice.

The plaintiff alleged that the defendants had jointly and severally breached their fiduciary duties of care, loyalty, good faith, and candor by failing to: (1) discover or prevent the intentional manipulation of stock option grants between 1999 and 2004; (2) prevent the misreporting of earnings that was caused by the manipulation of the option grants; (3) oversee the administration of Sycamore’s stock-based compensation plans; (4) ensure Sycamore operated in compliance with applicable state and federal laws pertaining to dissemination of financial statements; (5) ensure the company did not engage in any improper or illegal practices; and (6) ensure that the company’s financial statements were compliant with GAAP. The conduct is alleged to have violated section 14(a) of the Exchange Act and section 304 of the Oxley Act.

The Court permitted the transfer of the matter on its individualized consideration of the motion under section 1404(a) and on whether it would convenience the parties and witnesses and serve the interests of justice. The Court also held that it was the defendants’ burden to establish the need for transfer. The Court observed that the standard for transfer did not demand a demonstration of compelling circumstances; rather, the defendants only needed to show that the case would be better off if transferred to the other jurisdiction. That inquiry required a “multi-factor balancing test” that consisted of not only the convenience of the parties and the witnesses but also the examination of certain public and private interests. The Court listed the private interests as: (1) a plaintiff’s choice of forum; (2) the defendant’s preference; (3) where the claim arose; (4) the convenience of the parties and witnesses; and (5) the location of the books and records. The Court listed the public interests as: (1) the judgment’s enforceability; (2) practical trial considerations making it easy, expeditious or inexpensive; (3) the administrative difficulty presented in the two fora; (4) local interest in deciding the controversy at home; and (5) the public policies of the fora under consideration. The Court found that the private and public factors weighed in favor of transfer and therefore permitted the defendants’ motion.

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Supreme Court Interprets The "Duty" To Act In Good Faith

Stone v. Ritter,  C.A. No. 93, 2006 (Del. Supr. November 6, 2006).

The Supreme Court has issued the latest Delaware decision to interpret the duty to act in good faith. Indeed, it is possible to read Stone as holding there is no separate duty of directors to act in good faith. While that would be a mistake, the implications of this decision may be far reaching. At the very least, Stone upholds the conventional wisdom in Delaware that under Caremark the directors' duty to act is most easily triggered when there are red flags indicating something is wrong with the way the entity is being operated. A complaint that fails to plead those red flags has a good chance of being dismissed. More ›

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Court of Chancery Applies Limitations Statute

Smith v. McGee, C.A. No. 2101-S (Del. Ch. October 16, 2006). In this decision, the Court of Chancery discusses the application of Delaware's three year statute of limitations to claims for breach of fiduciary duty. The Court applied the statute to bar claims that arose three years before the suit was filed and declined to apply the potential saving rules such as when a claim is hidden from the plaintiff. Share

Court of Chancery Holds 5 Days Is Too Short For Merger Announcement

Berger v. Intelident Solutions Inc., C.A. No. 1527-N (Del. Ch. October 12, 2006). Under Delaware law, when a stockholder files suit over a merger she may be limited to appraisal rights when her concern is only over the price to be paid. It is often difficult to decide when a complaint is limited to the price and does not also deal with unfair dealing claims that are appropriate for class litigation. Here, the Court held that a complaint that alleged only 5 days notice of a merger and the right to seek appraisal did properly allege unfair dealing and could proceed as a class claim. Share

Court of Chancery Interprets No Shop Clause

Energy Partners Ltd. v. Stone Energy Corporation, C.A. No. 2402-N (Del. Ch. October 11, 2006). The Court of Chancery may be called upon to decide the scope of a board of director's duties in appropriate cases. Here, the Court interpreted a common merger agreement provision that limited the board's options in considering third party bids while the merger was pending. The Court held the provision permitted contact with the new bidder. More › Share

Court of Chancery Interprets Common Merger Clause

ATS, Inc. v. Bachmann, C.A. No. 2374-N (Del. Ch. October 11, 2006). Delaware corporations frequently ask the Court of Chancery to decide if a proposed course of action is appropriate, particularly when the board of directors' fiduciary duties are implicated. In this decision the Court focused primarily on when the Court may provide that guidance and when the matter is not ripe for judicial action. The Court has rejected becoming involved in hypothetical issues not framed by a real world transaction, but more of a "what if" set of questions. Here, the Court accepted one question for its review and rejected others, thereby illustrating how it will deal with those situations. More › Share

Court of Chancery Limits Creditor Fiduciary Duty Claims

North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation, Inc. v. Gheewalla, C.A. No. 1456-N (Del. Ch. September 1, 2006). This is another in a series of Court of Chancery decisions that limit the claims that creditors may make based on the theory the directors owe the creditors a duty when their corporation is insolvent or in the vicinity of insolvency. Ever since the famous footnote in Credit Lyonnais Bank Nederland, N.V. v. Pathe Communications Corp., 1991 WL 277613 (Del. Ch. Dec. 30, 1991), creditors have argued that directors should owe them a fiduciary duty to take their interests into account when the creditors are the residual interest holders in a corporation that is insolvent or nearly so. A series of recent decisions have limited those creditor arguments. See e.g. Production Resources Group, L.L.C. v. NCT Group, Inc., 863 A.2d 772 (Del. Ch. 2004) [holding most creditor claims must be brought as derivative claims]. This new decision further limits creditor claims by holding that creditors may not bring a direct claim for breach of fiduciary duty based on the theory the entity is in the vicinity of insolvency. Further, the decision holds that for clearly insolvent companies, only creditors whose claims are beyond fair dispute may claim the directors owe them a duty. More › Share

Delaware Supreme Court Affirms Chancery Court Ruling that Preferred Stock Was Properly Issued

Benihana of Tokyo, Inc. v. Benihana, Inc., No. 36, 2006, 2006 WL 2465412 (Del. Aug. 24, 2006). The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed post-trial ruling by Court of Chancery that $20 million issuance of preferred stock to a third-party holding company was authorized by the corporate charter and that the directors acted properly in approving that transaction. More › Share

Court of Chancery Interprets Charter For Preferred Stock

Blue Chip Capital Fund II Limited Partnership v. Tuberger, C.A. No. 1611-N (Del. Ch. August 22, 2006). The Court of Chancery frequently is called upon to interpret a corporate certificate of incorporation. In this decision, the Court held that a certificate provision permitting a corporation to withhold a reserve for contingent liabilities in connection with calculating the liquidation preference for preferred shareholders did not automatically authorize the board to hold back the highest possible amount, even if doing so was unreasonable based on objective factors. The Court also held that the authority granted by 8 Del C. §281 to hold back a reserve for continent liabilities did not authorize the board to do so under the charter. Instead, the terms of the certificate need be interpreted on its own terms. More › Share

Court of Chancery Awards Both Appraisal And Equitable Relief

In re PNB Holding Co. Shareholders Litigation, C.A. No. 28-N (Del. Ch. August 18, 2006). As it has several times in recent years, the Court of Chancery has decided a case combining appraisal rights and a class claim for inequitable treatment in a merger. The Court held that when directors get together to freeze out the other stockholders the entire fairness test applies even when they do not own a majority of the stock. This follows because the interests of those directors in remaining shareholders differs from the other shareholders who will be frozen out. Absent some insulating procedure such a majority of the minority vote, the directors then have the burden of proving the merger was entirely fair. More › Share

Court of Chancery Rejects Deepening Insolvency Theory

Trenwick America Litigation Trust v. Ernst & Young LLP, C.A. No. 1571-N, 2006 WL 2333201 (Del. Ch. Aug. 10, 2006). The Delaware courts have struggled for the last fifteen years over the scope of the duties of directors to creditors when their company is in the vicinity of insolvency. In two landmark decisions, the first in 2004, and just recently, the Court of Chancery sought to define the limits of that duty. Indeed, in this decision the Court rejected the very idea that there is a duty to avoid taking risks that may have the effect of deepening the insolvency of a Delaware corporation, at least in most circumstances. More › Share

Court of Chancery Sustains Complaint Attacking Settlement

Kosseff v. Ciocia, C.A. No. 188-N, 2006 WL 2337593 (Del. Ch. Aug. 3, 2006). In this decision, the Court dealt with a complaint attacking the transaction implemented to settle a proxy contest. The proxy contest was settled by an agreement that put the dissidents on the board and had the CEO resign. However, the CEO was given the right to buy certain lucrative businesses of the company, a right he later exercised. The complaint alleged that this deal was improvident. After reviewing the complaint, the Master declined to grant a motion to dismiss. More › Share