The 'Zone of Insolvency'
Directors and officers of a corporation are fiduciaries to the corporation and its shareholders, and are generally required to exercise the duties of care and loyalty with every corporate action. Delaware courts have long led the development of the parameters of these duties, which arise from statutes and vary from state to state.
The First Five Years of the SEC Whistleblower Program
With well-publicized SEC settlements now routinely tipping into the tens of millions of dollars, the monetary rewards to a successful tipster might be huge. The Dodd-Frank Act called those tipsters "Whistleblowers," and the SEC's official Whistleblower program opened for business in August 2011. Here's what has happened since.
Beware 'Spoofed' E-Mails
Law firms, companies and other entities need to be on guard for an increasingly frequent, sophisticated online fraud that uses "spoofed" e-mails.
Taking Control of e- Discovery In-House
Today's burdensome data trends require practical new approaches to e-discovery ' combining true-SaaS technology and "Intelligent Discovery" processes gives corporate legal departments greater control, reduces costs, and improves access to data.
Equity Crowdfunding
There has been a great deal of media attention the past several years about the JOBS Act. It has various components that do various things. The aspect of the JOBS Act that has the potential to touch the largest number of Americans is Title III (Crowdfunding).
When May a Director Inspect the Company's Books and Records?
It is well settled under Section 220(d) of the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL), a director's access to corporate books and records is broader than that of stockholders. However, in contrast to the broad scope of discovery permitted in a plenary action under the Delaware Court of Chancery Rule 26, Section 220 limits inspection (even by directors) to documents and communications that fall within its more limited "contemplation of 'books and records,'" which correlates with the "summary nature of a Section 220 proceeding."
Quarterly State Compliance Review
This edition of the Quarterly State Compliance Review looks at legislation of interest to corporate lawyers that was recently passed or went into effect and looks at some recent decisions of interest from the courts of Delaware and New York.
M&A Litigation in Delaware
Long accepted in Delaware (and in courts throughout the country), "disclosure-only" settlements were common in lawsuits brought by stockholders of a corporation sold in an M&A transaction. These lawsuits alleged that directors of the seller breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the sale price and process, and through allegedly deficient proxy materials provided to stockholders in connection with their vote on the deal. In disclosure-only settlements, the seller would agree to provide additional disclosures in advance of the stockholder vote on the transaction.
